Trial of the Winged
by NadinLuciferHawk
Summary: A short stop on an inhabitated island leads to the greatest adventure of two pirate captains. Will they survive this adventure or will they fail the Trail of the Winged?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note  
**

****Another idea I had. A kind of crossover between Sacred 2 Ice & Blood and One Piece. Enjoy this ^^

**Disclaimer**

****I do not own One Piece or Sacred. I wish I did, though.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Trafalgar Law sighed once again, rubbed his eyes and leaned back. It had been a few weeks since he encountered some trouble on Punk Hazard. Thanks to a certain rubber-pirate-brat (and a smoking Vice-Admiral) he managed to come out of that, though, and a few days later his men arrived and picked him up again.

Now he was sitting over some lists and files, trying to figure out what to stock up on the next island. Much to his displeasure his grocery list said: 'Everything'.

The Surgeon of Death crossed his arms behind his head and looked out of the porthole of his room. It was getting dark. Law was sure that the trademark rings under his eyes were even deeper now. Things like that happen when you sleep only about four hours a day.

"Perhaps I should get some real sleep for a change" Law thought exhausted, "It's not as if we would reach any inhabited island for the next few weeks."

Alas, his hopes were shattered as soon as there was a soft knocking on his door. "Come in!" Trafalgar called out.

The heavy steel door was opened and his newest crew member looked in. Light green, wavy and long hair fell over her shoulder when she said: "Captain? You are needed on deck."

"What for, Monet?"

"Fufufufu. I think you should see for yourself!"

Sighing again, Law got up and followed the harpy woman outside. Her feet – talons in her case – made clicking sounds when they walked through the long hallways of Law's submarine. Something was off, though.

"Where are all my men?"

"Outside on Deck!" Monet chuckled.

As soon as Law and Monet reached the deck of their ship, Monet fluttered off and landed above them, looking over the darkening sea with a certain glee. Trafalgar Law on the other hand had to push through the rows of his more normal Nakama to get a better look.

Standing next to the giant Jean Bart and his bear mate Bepo Law finally laid eyes on what everyone was freaking out about.

"Well…" he said dryly, "That could mean trouble. And I hoped for a good night's sleep."

-oo0oo-

Eustass Kid was often angry. Like a tiger in a cage he stalked through his messy room, waiting impatiently for his first mate to arrive. Many things ticked him off – and when he was ticked off he needed to destroy, maim and kill to vent his anger.

Today he was pissed about a certain raven-haired doctor. "Bastard's cheating his way to the One Piece!" he snarled for the hundredth time.

"Kid!" someone yelled and his door was torn open, revealing his first mate Killer. "We found them!"

"Good!" Kid growled, threw his dark fur cloak on and pushed his way to the deck of his rather unusual – or better, scary - ship, Killer followed him.

In the distance he discovered the bobbing yellow speck that was Law's submarine. Why he cruised on the surface rather than submerged did not wonder him. "Get ready!" he said to his men, "We'll have some medical asses to kick!"

"Kid." Killer said sternly, "Do not try to get carried away too much. You don't play with Law. The man's stronger than he looks."

"Killer, don't question me!" Kid barked, "I'm only gonna give him a piece of my mind about becoming a Dog of the Government!"

"…And we all know how that's going to end." Killer deadpanned. His long-time friend and captain shot him a nasty glare.

"They discovered us" the Zombie-like Heat said calmly, "Give us orders, Master Kid."

"Get ready for boarding!" Kid shouted, "We are not gonna let those bastards escape!"

-oo0oo-

"Are… are they going to board us?"

"…Nah… Or wait… yes!"

"They are going to board us!"

"CAPTAIN!"

Trafalgar Law sighed again. Now it was too late for emergency diving. "Prepare for battle, men," he said calmly. "I'll try to talk to the blockhead first."

Said blockhead appeared in his field of view. "LAW!" he shouted, clearly enraged, "Get here and fight me!"

Trafalgar raised his eyebrow. "Nah, don't feel like climbing up there. Why don't you simply come here?"

Somehow he had not expected the other to follow this, since he knew that Kid did not like to follow any orders. Because of this he was positively surprised when the wild red-headed brute actually jumped down to stand before him.

The ground shook when he landed and once Kid had straightened up Law could not help but feel a little intimidated. He had not seen his fellow Supernova ever since they fought the Pacifista on Sabaody, and thus he was not really prepared for this. Even his men stepped back once.

The first thing he noted where the numerous scars and the really massive mechanical left arm of the other captain. He stood – at the very least – at least a foot above Law, and was more than twice as broad – the heavy dark fur coat only increased his bulk. Kid must weight also at least twice as much as the slim doctor, perhaps even more, Law observed.

Eustass Kid was a true beast of man.

Nevertheless Law did not even bat an eye – any sign of weakness before a beast would mean an immediate death sentence – and said coolly: "I've seen you've grown up a bit. …Whatever happened to your arm?"

"Don't play dumb, Law!" Kid snarled. "I know you're now a Dog of the Government, a _Shichibukai_!" He spat the last word with such venom that Law feared he would melt his face off right away.

Law did not let on anything, and asked: "Got a problem with that? At least I won't have to deal with the Marines all the time." Directing his steel-grey gaze at the deep crimson eyes of the other captain he added: "And you know that you are right now on my ship – my territory…"

Suddenly the whole submarine began to shake wildly. Law widened his eyes slightly when he felt his Nodachi twitching as well. "And I hope you know about my powers" Kid hissed, "and that your whole damn ship is made of _metal_."

"…I see…" Law finally said, "So you really wish to fight me then?"

"I will crush you into oblivion!"

Law noted his men becoming restless out of a sudden. But so where Kid's men. This would only end in a massacre. So the Surgeon of Death sighed again and said: "If you really are so keen on fighting me, do so." Kid made a noise like a enraged bear deep in his throat and began to move, but Law lifted his hand and continued: "But we will not fight right here and right now!"

"Coward!"

"It's not that. If we were to fight, we'd only destroy both our ships. And we are on the sea, to boot." He glared at the larger man and added: "We are just going to drown both, so let's move our little… dispute onto dry ground, Eustass-ya."

Kid snarled again, but this time it was his own first mate keeping him back. "He's right, Kid" Killer said, "There's a storm coming our way, and an uninhabited island nearby. If you really want to fight Law, let's move there."

Eustass Kid huffed out and barked: "Take the submarine into tow. I don't want them to escape." He glared at his men and added: "And the next one starting to sing that terrible song will be cast into the sea by me, understood?!"

With that said the brute jumped back onto his ship. Law allowed himself to breathe out. For now he was save, but once they would reach that island… He shuddered at the thought. Trafalgar Law was not a weakling, by no means. But Eustass Kid was clearly the physically stronger one. Also the large man gave a shit about anything, including the true strength of his opponents. Law would have to arrange a strategy until they reached the island.

And pray that he would come out of their dispute in a whole piece. He heard that Kid had actually torn off the arm of a Rear-Admiral once and beat him to death with it.

Law shuddered again. "So much for a good night's rest" he muttered under his breath.

-oo0oo-

From close up the island looked even more uninviting as from further away. The waves splashed wildly against the barren grey volcanic rocks. There were no plants and no animals, not even sea gulls dared to nest here. Only black and grey rocks lined the floor. It was rather crisp and the cold wind pierced through their clothes.

Upon closer inspection however, Penguin discovered a few strange blue crystals sticking from the ground. He wondered about them, but turned his attention back to where the two captains were facing each other. Penguin gulped. "Hopefully Captain knows what he's doing…" he muttered.

The two pirate crews were standing in two semi-circles around their captains. Law looked at his opponent in a relaxed and calm way while Kid snarled at him all the time. He wondered whether the brute even noticed the biting cold wind, since he did not wear any kind of shirt. Only a black vest underneath his dark fur coat – and that was not even closed. And Law himself shivered lightly from the cold even through his black cloak.

Nevertheless he shifted his attention back to the task at hand and looked over to the redhead. Kid had already begun collecting scrap metal and weapons from his men and Law's men and formed them into a giant hand around his right arm. Law wondered why he used his right and not his already stronger left, but then again, the massive iron bulk around it also doubled as a shield.

"What are you waiting for, Trafalgar?" Kid snarled, "Get the fuck ready to fight, you scrawny little bitch!"

Law scrunched his nose in disdain. Oh how he missed this language! Holding his Nodachi in front of his eyes Law said: "Then come at me, Eustass-ya."

He did not need to say that twice. With an almost beastly roar Eustass Kid threw his whole bulk into Law's direction. The slimmer doctor drew the sword from its sheath and held it in front of him, right in the moment when Kid crushed into him. Law's knees buckled under the strain, but he held his place, holding the brute in place with trembling arms.

At least he now knew why Kid had enforced his right instead of his left. Actually it was his mechanical left arm that had grabbed Law's Nodachi. With the other he struck out after the Surgeon of Death.

Trafalgar Law prepared himself to evade that attack. Getting hit by that would mean an immediate end to their little brawl.

But suddenly there was something like a white-blue orb of fire. It came in faster than anyone could look and hit Kid's gigantic scrap metal claw.

"WHA…?!" Kid shouted when the fire orb hit into the claw and smashed it apart at once. Law used this little distraction and kicked the larger male into the gut, forcing him to let go off his Nodachi. Only then did he dare to look into the direction from where the fire orb came.

And what he saw made him highly surprised. Suddenly his mouth was dry and he could not utter a single peep for what seemed an eternity.

"KILLER!" he heard Kid shout, "I thought this island was inhabited?!"

"I thought so, too!" the masked man defended himself.

Because there, a little away from the group, stood a woman. She was tall, taller than Kid and perfectly proportioned. This woman was without doubt the most beautiful woman they had ever set eyes upon, even more beautiful than the Shichibukai Boa Hancock.

She wore grey-blue armour which revealed more of her than it covered. Only her chest, shoulders, lower arms and lower legs were coated in what looked like sturdy armour. Her belly and tights were uncovered and she wore only a matching grey-blue thong to cover herself. The woman's boots were ridiculous high high-heels, making everyone wonder how the fuck she was able to stand; let alone walk with those things. There were massive blades on her back, which looked like stylized wings. She held two swords in her hands, and seemingly she was adapted at fighting with both.

Her face, however, was the most beautiful thing about her. She had pale blonde hair which was drawn into two pony tails at the top of her head. An intriguing black crescent-shaped pattern was below her eyes, running all the way down her cheeks. But her eyes were almost scary since they were glowing white without any pupil or iris.

Despite being really scantily clothed, she did not even seem to notice the cold.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Kid shouted enraged, "And why are you interrupting my fucking fight?!"

The woman, however, said nothing. Instead she lifted one hand with the palm pointing up – and suddenly a massive beam of light shot from the heavens and crushed right into the Kid pirate's captain. Kid couldn't help but utter a cry as the light tore through the remains of his enforced scrap metal arm. He somehow managed to jump backwards and out of the light, but was too distracted due immense pain to react. The woman had jumped all the way towards him and delivered a fierce roundhouse kick right against his skull. The impact was strong enough to topple the beast and knocked him out cold.

"CAPTAIN!" Killer shouted and was already jumping across the field when the woman whirled around and punched Law right into the Solar Plexus, knocking all breath out of him and sent him to the ground as well. She then proceeded to draw her swords to stop Killer's blades, keeping him in a deadlock.

"Who are you?!" Killer hissed enraged and confused at the same time at the taller woman.

The woman did not answer, though. Instead she called out: "Sisters! Let us bring this scum down!" Her voice sounded like the purest bells, even with that slightly venomous hint.

"SISTERS?!" Bepo shouted unbelievingly. He whirled around when there were suddenly about ten more of those scantily clad women appearing. With their swords drawn they charged at high speed at the surprised pirates, catching them off-guards.

The last thing Law saw were his and Kid's men getting beat up by a dozen very beautiful, but also very militant women. Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Eustass Kid had a really, _really bad_ day. The last time a _girl_ beat him was when he was five. But now he had been not only beaten but also defeated by a – very militant and strong-as-hell, that much was granted – _girl_ – and that in front of his men _and_ his rivals!

Waking up in a large, cold room made from polished grey rocks and smooth blue crystal walls with a fence from similar blue crystals together with his foes did not help either to improve that day. Neither did the throbbing headache help, or the fact that there was the back of a familiar raven-haired imp next to him.

Kid growled angered and went to sit up.

He regretted it moments later as the headache came back worse, threatening to split his skull. Groaning he immediately fell back, cursing the fact that he showed a weakness.

Kid cursed even more when two faces of said raven-haired imp appeared in his bleary field of vision. "You should not move, Eustass-ya" the imp said, smiling innocently, "You have a pretty ugly concussion there."

"What the fuck happened?" he somehow managed to press out.

"Obviously this island is not as uninhabited as we originally thought" Killer said when three of his masks appeared on the other side. The masked man held his ribs and seemed to have problems when breathing. "We were ambushed and defeated… by women."

"Fuck it!"

"But I must say that those women were inhumanly strong!" Law added and looked around. "We got rounded up pretty bad."

"It's like in Amazon Lily" the voice of Penguin said, further increasing the splitting headache of the red-haired pirate, "Only they did not beat us up so good."

"Gah!" Kid groaned, "Be still. My head's exploding…"

"She did kick you really hard" Law said innocently. "So stay down and don't move. I'm doing my best to treat the injured, but without my stuff I'm pretty much jamming."

"Where are we anyways?" Kid asked groggily.

"In some sort of prison" his first mate answered. "We are in a large prison room with blue crystal walls…"

"And whatever those walls are…" Law added and sighed, "I can't use my Devil Fruit Abilities in here."

Kid groaned again. This would be something… stuck in a prison cell with all his foes and held captive by a band of militant women. He wondered what they held them captive for. To abuse them as targets for their weapon training? Or for reproductive means? Somehow he hoped for latter.

But right now he had to wait until this cursed headache was waning off. If it wasn't so friggin' cold! And being born in the warm South Blue did not help in any way right now. So Kid stayed down and remained silent in his own misery.

-0-

It took him a few hours before the concussion had ebbed away enough for Eustass to move. He leaned heavily against the crystal wall and tried to ignore the still throbbing background pain when he took his surrounding in. Most of his men were still on the ground – according to one of Law's men they had put up more of a fight and were thus more damaged right now. They were all in a single large room, which was certainly not large enough to allow all of them to lie down. Three walls were made from sparkling blue, smooth crystal, and the fourth was created like a jail, also made from similar crystals.

He had also tried to use his Devil Fruit, but he had no success so far. Then he had tried to bash the crystals in, but did not earn more than a disapproving look from the two scantily dressed guardians outside. Now the two females were standing left and right from the entrance, unmoving like statues. Two pretty hot statues, he added amused.

From the looks of it, it must've been morning already.

"How long are we here?" Kid asked then.

"You were out for about a day" Law told him. Looking up he calculated and said: "So we are here for almost two days."

Eustass groaned again and massaged his throbbing temples. Directing his bloodshot glare at the smaller doctor he hissed: "And of course you have nothing to do with that!"

Law raised his eyebrow and said: "Nothing. I was also expecting this island to be empty."

Kid snorted. "Yeah right. As if I'd believe a Dog of the Government!"

"I have nothing to do with this." Law affirmed. "And I doubt that these ladies here have something to do with the Government… or am I mistaken?!"

One of the guards turned to glare at them with glowing white eyes. "The government of you mortals does not have any power over us. We are servants of the true Creator, and only his orders are relevant!"

"See?"

Kid snarled again. Law sighed, got up from where he was treating one of Kid's crew and went over to the scowling redhead. "As long as we are stuck here, we should call it a truce" he said, "And concentrate on how to get out of here."

Killer came to them as well. "I doubt we could win if we fought. There are at least 20 of those women here. And if a dozen could beat us up this bad…" He did not continue.

Kid was still scowling when Law smirked and said: "At least one reasonable crew member! How comes that you're not the Captain, Killer?"

Killer chuckled much to Kid's dismay. "Actually I sort of am the captain. Kid's too… hot-headed to make a reasonable…"

"KILLER!" Kid shouted and dove after the Massacre Soldier who evaded chuckling, "I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

Law shook his head and watched the drama unfolding. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he saw the two guards moving. There were three other Seraphim coming towards them.

The door was opened and a majestically "SILENCE!" stopped all their movements at once. Even Eustass and Killer stopped their brawl and looked over where a woman with golden armour and golden wings on her back had entered. She had red hair with silver temples and emanated an aura of grandeur. Behind her were two other women who looked similar to the one that knocked out Kid and Law.

The obvious leader of the lot crossed her arms and asked: "What are children like you doing on our private hunting grounds?"

"Private… hunting grounds?" Law asked surprised, "Forgive us, but we did not know of that."

"Then why did you come here in the first place? This island is off-limits for all trespassers."

Nobody answered, but looked at each other in confusion.

"Mother Sophia asked you a question!" one of the other women barked, "You will give her an answer!"

Law was a man that knew how to deal with people. So he took the lead. "Again, forgive us, Sophia-ya" He jerked his thumb at the furious redhead and said: "He challenged me to a duel, and in order not to damage our ships we landed on your island, estimating it to be unpopulated. If you let us return to our ships we will leave and won't come back."

"Your heart is speaking truth" Sophia eventually said, her voice calm. She shook her head and said: "But you children are not supposed to fight each other. It is bad enough that your government fights its people."

"You… you know of that?" Killer asked surprised, "Do you have any connection to the government?"

Sophia chuckled and said: "No. I did witness its foundation 800 years ago, and witnessed it becoming ever more corrupt. We Seraphim have no connection to those mortals, and we will not approach it with anything."

"800?!" the pirates barked in disbelieve, "How old are you?!"

"A little over 10 000 of your mortal years."

Half of the pirates fainted.

Sophia blinked at that in confusion. "Odd… why do people always react like that?" She shrugged then and turned back to Trafalgar Law. "Even though we have no connections to your government, we can't simply let you go again. You know of our hunting grounds now, and with it, they will know as well."

Kid suddenly snarled: "So you want to kill us, eh?!"

"Do not talk to Sophia in this way, pirate!" the other Seraphim shouted and pointed their swords at the redhead. It only made Kid's blood boil even more but Killer held him back.

"Not necessarily" Sophia said then, "If you prove yourself worthy, we will let you go. Otherwise you will not leave this island ever again, pirates."

"Prove us… worthy?" Law asked confused, "Why?"

"Normally we would not hesitate to strike you down" Sophia explained, "but I saw a great potential in you, potential to overthrow this self-righteous government. As I said, we Seraphim will not intervene with the mortal's doings. This is what our Creator ordered us… but he also did not want the mortals to destroy each other."

"What do you want?!" Kid barked again.

"My intention is simple, child" the Seraphim said, "One of each crew will take on the challenge of our hunting ground. If you succeed, we will let you go. And you will leave this island stronger than ever before."

"And what if we fail?"

"You will die, of course. Our hunting grounds are no playground after all." Gesturing to the one standing beside her she said: "My daughter Mercuria will guide you."

Suddenly Kid roared: "I will not do anything just to amuse you! I am not some sort of trained bitch!" Killer had real trouble to keep his captain back – he even had to call Heat and Wire in for support - and this aggressiveness confused Law. Kid was aggressive and violent, but not like this.

Law shook his head, decided to wonder about that later and said: "I will get my men out of here. I will face this challenge."

"Captain!" his men cried out in distress. "Are you sure?"

"I am!"

"Good" Sophia said, "Then choose your partner for this challenge. He shall accompany you during the hunt."

Law blinked and wanted to choose the giant Jean Bart, but Mercuria added: "One of the other crew."

"Oh, if that's the case…" he looked over the other again, thinking about taking Killer… but then again one had to look after the men while he was gone. And leaving Kid here was a certain death sentence for his men. So he had not other choice but to: "I'll take Eustass Kid."

"WHAT?!" Kid roared and glared at him, "I will not accompany you on anything! I hate your fucking guts!"

"And I hate yours, so shut up!" Law barked right back, "Settle down, Eustass-ya, I thought you loved violence?"

Kid gasped for air, but before he could retort anything, Sophia said: "It is decided. You two will face the challenge of the Winged Ones."

With that said, the two Seraphim guards hustled Kid and Law outside their prison. "Bepo!" Law called over his shoulder, "Take care of the others, understood?"

"Captain!"

"We'll be fine, I promise!"

"Speak for yourself, Trafalgar!" Kid shouted, "I'm gonna break some necks!"

"Yeah, but not the Seraphim's necks!" Law shot back, "So settle the fuck down, Eustass-ya! We are going to do this challenge and we are going to rule it! Then we can still kill each other."

"I'm going to murder you!"

"I have no doubts about that, Eustass-ya…"

Then they were out of hearing range and the crews felt unsettled right away. "Good luck, captain…" Bepo mumbled uncertain.

"Don't kill Law until we're off this island…" Killer growled. He glared back at the two now again statue-like guards, huffed out and went to sit down. There was nothing they could do right now except waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Harbour of the Winged did actually not look as bleak as the coast on which they landed. It was a camp with simple but impressing stone buildings and some ornamented beacons. Gray volcanic rock still dominated everything, but there were plants there. Plants made from fine crystals. The trees had a trunk made from rock and crystal leaves. There were also many blue crystals of varying shape and sizes everywhere, some formed a gateway at the northern end of the camp and even the ground glinted with crystals on the flanks of slopes and hills. About 20 Seraphim were in here, just as Killer predicted, however, their guide Mercuria – the same that knocked them out a day earlier – told them, that this were not all of her sisters. Each and every Seraphim could easily rival Boa Hancock in beauty.

Kid however, had no eyes for the Seraphim. He stood on the pier and stared in disbelieve at the ships. Somehow the Seraphim brought both ships here, but they were engulfed with the same blue crystals and thus immobilised. There was no way they could be moved.

"Don't stand there, Eustass-ya" Kid's companion on this involuntary trip said, "Mercuria said we have an hour to prepare ourselves. So get on board and get your stuff."

"Don't order me around!" Kid snapped. "I hate being ordered around!"

"I'm only saying" Law defended himself. Pointing at the towering white mountain in the distance he said: "Even if you are not cold right now, you will freeze up there. So get yourself warm clothes. I guess some medical equipment, extra weapons and some food can't hurt, too… Well, I'll go preparing." With that said the Surgeon of Death disappeared into his ship.

Growling the redhead followed his example. No matter how much he detested Law, he had a point. And Kid was not sure whether there was enough metal for him here to use his Magnetic Powers. He would have to fall back on conventional weapons. A sudden chill wind made him shudder. Oh yeah, and a thicker jacket would be wise, too.

Mercuria watched him disappear. Turning to her sister she asked: "Whether this is a good idea, Niokaste?"

Niokaste shrugged. "Mother Sophia always knows what is best. And you travelled with mortals a millennium ago, so you know what to expect."

Mercuria sighed. "Well then. I do hope those guys won't kill each other when given the chance… they seem to be… disagreeing."

"The black-haired one is somewhat cute" Niokaste chuckled, "And the other looks hot."

Mercuria shook her head. "Really, Niokaste, you are incorrigible."

-oo0oo-

Soon afterwards the three unwilling travelling partners stood underneath the blue crystal archway.

"Okay, what are we supposed to do?" Law asked Mercuria, feeling somewhat tiny out of a sudden. Main reason for that was that his two companions were both taller than the slim doctor.

Mercuria crossed her arms and said: "Your mission is to reach and fight the Scaron. It lives deep in the west, on the Lake of Dreams. But our first stop is the Outpost of the Seraphim."

"Nice" Kid grunted, "And I suppose you'll gonna help us through?"

Mercuria smirked. "I'm your guide, not your guardian. But some training can never hurt, I suppose."

Law sighed. "Okay then…" he shouldered his backpack and said: "Let's go then, Eustass-ya."

Kid growled again. It was understandable since Law had forced him to change the contents of their backpacks and now Kid was stuck with the blankets, extra food and water while Law 'only' carried the medical equipment.

Law threw him a glare and said: "Don't look at me like that, Eustass-ya. We are stuck together until we finish this challenge… one way or another."

"There's only one way to finish this" Kid snarled, "And I will not accept any other way."

"I like that approach!" Law said smirking. "Well then, let's go!"

"We'll only have to follow the path" Mercuria informed them, "The Outpost is right on the way, it's not to miss."

The three began to move.

But soon afterwards they encountered their first roadblock.

"AGH!" Kid shouted, "What's with that fuckin' crystal?!"

Law turned around and noticed Kid looking as if he was hit by lightning. Next to him was a crystal like everywhere else, only this one looked somewhat… broken. "What's with those crystals? Why do they have cracks everywhere?"

"They are damaged and malfunctioning" Mercuria explained, "The energy that created them is not contained safely inside and will spring forth once in a while. Destroy them, that should deal with them."

"'Destroy' sounds good" Kid hissed. With a single punch from his mechanical limb he smashed the crystal into a thousand shards. "Serves you right, you little fucker."

"… Why are you insulting crystals?" Law asked.

Kid glared. "I feel better then."

"Ah, I see. Well, I suppose we should… WOAH!" Law dodged when a huge black and red wolf suddenly jumped into his direction. The beast had horns and a strong white armour on its back. Glowing yellow eyes rested hungrily on the doctor as the canine creature bared its salvia-dripping, dagger-like teeth.

"It's a Lupan" the Seraphim said, "They are dangerous when in packs, but you can deal with them while alone."

"Good to hear" Law grunted. The Lupan attacked him head on and Law dodged, used his Nodachi combined with his Devil Fruit Ability and severed the beast right along its spine. The Lupan whined and fell dead to the ground. "Bad boy!" Law said smirking. But when he turned around he was faced with at least 15 more Lupans. "…Shit…"

-0-

An hour later the three were still going into the direction of the Outpost. By now they had slain 47 Lupans, 24 stone-creatures (Saxenors) and 5 white-furred giant Yeti.

"At least I know why you called this a 'challenge'" Law said panting. "Not even an hour and we encountered more damned beasts than on any other island!"

"We use this as our Training Grounds for a reason" Mercuria said bored. "Of course we had to place a few more and especially stronger beasts to train here!"

Kid said nothing to that. He was too absorbed in the play with some crystals. Very soon he had found out that the broken, damaged crystals could be controlled like metal through his powers. Mercuria explained that they turn magnetic once they are damaged. At least he could use his Devil Fruit Ability here.

"Oi, Eustass-ya!" Law called, "There are some more Lupans and Saxenors down there. Could you take care of them?"

"Are you ordering me around?"

"No, I'm asking you for something."

Mercuria sighed as she watched the two of them bicker. Why in the Creator's name did humans act like total morons sometimes?

But as soon as a Lupan discovered them, Kid turned to his task, summoned some crystals and killed all the beasts with a rain of sharp-edged crystals.

"How far is this damned Outpost?!" he shouted enraged when a Yeti jumped onto him and tried to kill him. Law himself had to deal with a Saxenor that somehow managed to escape Kid.

"With your speed we'd need half the day!" Mercuria answered. "Get moving!"

"ARE YOU ORDERING ME AROUND?!"

"Yes I do."

Law kicked the Saxenor and smashed it with his Nodachi. That could be a damn long day.

-oo0oo-

The sun – always hidden behind thick grey clouds - had reached its climax and was already beyond it when the three reached the Outpost. It was actually only wall and a few watchtowers. Climbing a watchtower Law and Kid flopped down at once and let out a long breath. It was still very frigid, but due the excessive amount of fighting they were warm. Without a word Kid handed Law a bottle of water before gulping down something himself.

Mercuria smirked and asked: "Were you two not trying to kill each other only a few hours back?"

"Too tired" Law said. "No energy to bicker with blockhead…"

"I show you blockhead" Kid growled, albeit a little less energetic than usual. Dropping the subject he growled: "Are we nearby that Dream Lake?"

"Oh no. You should be happy when you manage to reach the bridge spanning nothing

by tonight! The Lake of Dreams is further in the West!"

At that both of them groaned only to hiss out in pain. Even though they had fought bravely they could not prevent getting injured by the beasts here. They were by far stronger than any normal enemy they had encountered so far – with the exception of certain Admirals and giant Shichibukai-cyborgs.

"And you girls do that for fun?" Law eventually asked.

"Not fun. It's training!" Mercuria said. Crossing her arms she explained: "After the Creator banished us Seraphim to this world, we managed to keep the warlike races of the world in check for a long time, and had hoped that he would welcome us back with open arms. Over the years, though, we Seraphim began to become negligent and somewhat bored. Thus, we weren't sufficiently prepared when the Great Dragon War broke out and were almost wiped off the face of the world. That taught us a lesson. To prevent another such failure, Sophia has created a new hunting ground as a challenge every young Seraphim has to face at intervals. This is the Crystal Plane."

"A training ground, huh?" Kid said matter-of-factly. "No wonder you ladies beat us up."

"Any normal mortal will never stand a chance against a Seraphim" Mercuria said smiling, "One of us replaces up to 500 human soldiers!"

Kid furrowed his brow. "So you want to tell me that I am inferior to you?!"

"Yes."

"I'm not gonna accept that! I'll show you snotty lot!"

Law chuckled. "As much as I hate you, you are right. Humans are not inferior to any other species – perhaps in certain aspects, but in no way in all!"

With that said the two rose back to their feet and continued their way towards the Lake of Dreams. Mercuria followed them, slightly confused and curious. Humans were indeed strange creatures. Insult their pride and they will get mad. She shook her head. In her 1500 years of existence she had never truly understood what drove the mortals to such dangerous tasks.

-oo0oo-

Like Mercuria predicted it was already night when the three reached the Bridge Spanning Nothing. Even in the darkness of the cold, moonless night could they see the blue glow of the marvellous crystal bridge. Since the safest spot was directly on the bridge they got onto it, only to look down into the dark abyss with a certain uneasiness.

But then Law hissed out in twinge and plopped down, looking at his injured leg with worry. A horned, armoured polar bear, an Ursaron, had gotten hold of him. Luckily for him Kid had been there to help him out.

While Law took out his medical equipment to treat his and then Kid's wounds, Mercuria said: "Be lucky. This was the worst part of the Crystal planes. The beasts following this will be not as durable as the last ones."

"Weeeh, does that not sound fucking inviting?" Kid grumbled dryly. He lied down and heard his joints and bones popping. "God! Everything hurts!"

Law chuckled at that. "You know what, Eustass-ya?"

"What?" he growled irritated.

"Only a day and you are not interested in killing me anymore!"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, doc" Kid snarled, "I still hate your guts!"

"And yet you are not doing anything to harm me. Quite the contrary even!"

Eustass glared at Trafalgar. "Only because I saved your fucking life I don't have to like you. I merely want to keep the race to the top interesting. Would be a shame if you dropped out – killed by a fucking bear."

Law shrugged. "Whatever." After he treated their wounds he unpacked a blanket, shivered at the chilliness of the night and wrapped himself up. "We should probably position a guard or something…"

"Don't worry" Mercuria said, "I will keep watch."

"Don't you need to sleep?"

"Oh, we Seraphim can go weeks without sleep and food" she said smirking, "And we don't even feel temperatures between -150 and 150°C."

"At least that explains how you can run around looking…" Kid began, but was interrupted when Law edged closer to him. "What the fuck do you think you are doing?!"

"Don't like bodily contact, eh?" Law said smirking, "But don't worry. I'm not into that what you think. I'll only want you as my personal radiator for this night."

"Radiator?" Kid hissed irritated.

"You are a big guy and thus you store more energy than a small guy like me. So let me sleep or else I'll be frozen to death by tomorrow."

"Sounds inviting."

"But you won't think of that once you'd have to vet your own injuries. Shut up and go to sleep. It was a friggin' long and exhausting day."

Kid growled again but let him pass. No matter how he looked at it, he was stuck here with the annoying doctor. And he would leave this place only either dead without Law or living and with him.

"When this is over, I will definitely fucking murder you."

"When this is over, and we're still alive, you can do whatever suits you. But until then you are stuck with me."

-oo0oo-

In the Harbour of the Winged things were not much better. "Cold!" one random crewmate said, "Why is it so fucking cold?"

Killer sighed out, his breath turned to fog right away and streamed out through the holes of his mask. It was quite a sight, looking somewhat like a train or something. "Alright. I'll ask for some blankets."

Surprisingly the guards were caring enough to actually trot off and get the wanted. A few minutes later they came back, clutching white furs. Throwing them into the prison one said: "Yeti furs. With kind regards from our huntresses."

"Yeti?" Penguin asked. "Those things exist?"

"Whatever." Killer grumbled and took the pelt. "But they are really soft and warm."

"At least we won't freeze to death!" Bepo exclaimed happily.

Shachi snatched the pelt out of the bear's paws and growled: "You are a polar bear, Bepo. Polar. You don't need a fur blanket!"

Bepo pouted but accepted anyways. Soon all of the prisoners went to sleep. Killer however was not yet sleeping. He glared at the guards and thought: "Hopefully you'll manage this challenge, Kid. Whatever that is."

Shifting his glare to the mountain slightly visible over the buildings he added: "And hopefully you'll come back alive."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next morning came way too early. At least for Eustass Kid. He was used to sleeping in. But the cold of the night was still stuck in their bones and the soreness from yesterday's exercise made it really difficult to get up, even for Trafalgar Law who usually got up before dawn.

Mercuria raised a perfect eyebrow at the sight of the two men. Both were stiff from the chill and pain, and unable to do more than uttering something like 'Get off', 'Fuck', 'Damn' and 'Argh'. Eventually she reached into her own bag and pulled two vials with red liquid out.

"Drink up" she said, "It'll help against the rigidity and pain."

Slowly and pain-stricken both pulled themselves into sitting positions before drinking the potion. They got better right away.

"Remind me that I never sleep out in the cold ever again." Law muttered.

"Wimp" Kid said. But as soon as he wanted to push himself up there was a horrible screeching sound.

"What was that?!" Law asked, "Another beast?"

Kid grimaced and moved again, earning another shrill scream. "Ugh" he finally groaned, "The low temperatures are fucking with my arm…" To aggravate his point he moved the fingers of his mechanical arm. They were moving only slowly and under great effort, not as fluently and easily as yesterday.

"I see…" Law eventually said, "So you had that thing built only for show purpose…"

"What shall that mean?!"

"That means that whoever built that thing did a crappy job in making it weatherproof."

Kid gave him a death glare. "By pure chance…" he hissed, "…I was the one that built it."

Trafalgar was taken back for a moment. "You?"

"Me."

Suddenly the Surgeon of Death began to laugh. Something that only a very few people had ever seen in the past. "You? Eustass friggin' Captain Kid?"

"Yeeeeees… Got a problem with that?" the now very irritated Kid hissed.

"It's only… hehehe… I would have never thought that you… hehehe… the guy that kills other people without thinking twice… hehehe… and causes huge civilian casualties is actually delicate enough to build a functioning prosthesis!"

Law almost rolled on the floor with laughter while Kid's nonexistent eyebrow twitched dangerously. Mercuria watched the show unfolding without any visible emotion, but her hand crept slowly to the hilt of one of her swords.

"OKAY!" Kid shouted and jumped to his feet, "One mechanical arm or not, I'm going to MURDER YOU!"

Law yelped and wanted to dive away, but gasped sharply. Casting a quick glance back he remembered one thing: An Ursaron had tried to bit off his leg yesterday. While he could still move then he could not do so now and was therefore pretty much fucked right now.

Luckily for him – and much to his surprise – Kid stopped in his advance. Law looked up to the towering brute inquiring, noting that said brute was obviously fighting with himself. After what seemed an eternity Kid shouted: "ARGH!" and turned on his heel, stomping a few feet away from the Surgeon.

Law looked up in utter surprise. Only one day and the other pirate captain did not cease to surprise him! He looked up to Mercuria, noting that she put her hand away from her sword.

"What was this all about?" he asked unsure.

"I think he is not as stupid as you think he is" the Seraphim said while kneeling down next to the doctor. "He knows that he is flat on his back without you."

"Oh…"

"Teasing each other won't help you two on the long run… let me see your leg."

Law did as he was told, still at loss about the other captain. Then he turned his attention back to Mercuria when he felt the sudden sting of coldness on his wound. The Seraphim looked at the wound without emotions, placed her hand above it and… healed the wound using magic. Law gasped in surprise when the pain disappeared and only moments later he could stand on his own legs as if he never had been injured at all! Only an almost invisible scar attested the injury.

"Wow!" was all the doctor could say. "If I had known that before I would not had to take my Medical Stuff with me!"

"Don't get me wrong, mortal" Mercuria replied coldly, "With that leg you would have never finished your challenge. I will only heal the lot of you when it absolutely has to be. Otherwise I will keep out of your affairs."

Law nodded to that. Soon Kid joined the two and growled: "Are you done, you love-birds? I'd like to continue then."

-oo0oo-

The day carried on, and so did their body count. By now both pirates had noticed that they were more persistent than yesterday, and they were also faster when defeating the beasts.

Eventually Mercuria said. "See that crystal archway down there? From there will be only crystal beasts on."

Indeed the fauna changed. Soon they reached the archway and looked over a plain made almost entirely from crystals. Even the trees were pure crystal now, and there were floating crystals everywhere. Even floating crystal trees. The lakes in that plain were clear as – well – crystal.

And between this fabulous landscape were animals – wolves, bears and boars – made from crystal. They could move around and acted like normal animals. Only that they were born from blue and white crystal rather then flesh.

"This whole crystal stuff gets on my nerves!" Kid roared out enraged, "What is it with girls and fucking glittering stuff?!"

A pack of Luglacin discovered them – thanks to Kid's shouting - and attacked the redheaded brute. Kid roared out and smashed his mechanical fist into the first of the attacking crystal wolves. It shattered like glass under the tremendous force. Sharp splints flew around everywhere, some even nicked the pale skin of the redhead, but he ignored it and smashed the remaining Luglacin.

"I see your arm is functioning as it should" Law said teasingly when they continued.

"Damn right. I built it after all!" Glaring over his shoulder at the smaller Shichibukai he added: "And I like to comment that I only had _one_ fucking arm at that time!"

"Whatever happened to your original one?"

"Why the fuck does that interest you, government dog?"

"Maybe because I'm a doctor?"

"I'd hate to interrupt your little bickering…" Mercuria threw in, "But there are two Ursacin coming your way."

"Oh, right."

-oo0oo-

"I'm bored!" Penguin complained.

Shachi sighed and said: "We are here for three days now, and there's nothing to do!"

"Play 'I spy with my little eye' or something like that" Killer growled, being clearly irritated by now. What annoyed him most were not only Law's crewmembers – they were far too positive for his taste – but also the fact that he may had his weapons but could not, under any circumstances, break open this damned cage!

"You seem to be a man that always needs to have something to do" the strange Harpy-lady from Law's crew eventually said. Killer regarded her with a glare, although she could not see it through his mask.

"Monet… was it? Why does that interest you?"

The harpy shrugged. "Well, since we don't have much to do right now but wait for our captains to return… can as well try some small talk."

Killer sighed. "Without anything to do, I'll just go crazy. Even if I only can kick Kid's guts again…"

"You kick him?" Monet asked surprised, "I thought he was your captain?"

"He is. But he's also an idiot. So I kick him every time he messes something up."

"Fufufufu… And I thought only the Straw Hats were like that!"

Casting a glance outside Killer eventually said: "I do hope he has not killed Law by now. Your captain might be a pain in the ass, but he's a doctor. And Kid tends to overestimate himself."

"Are you something like his nanny?"

"Nah. Only his best friend. And as such I always know what that idiot is up to…"

-oo0oo-

Kid sneezed.

"Bless you" Law muttered, holding his hurting shoulder. A Percalacin – a crystal boar – had headbutted him quite violently. Thank god nothing was broken, but it would leave an ugly bruise at any rate.

His companion was not too good looking himself. Main reason for that was that Law had begun to use the brute as his shield. Kid was way larger than the lithe doctor, and so he was a perfect shield to hide behind. Of course Kid was pissed at first, but Law had assured him to 'put him back together afterwards'.

It was then when they saw the Lake of Dreams for the first time. They stood on a hill overlooking the Crystal Plane. In the south of their location, just behind a pink and blue crystal forest they saw a mighty crystal blue lake. An island dominated by pink and purple colours was right in the center of it, making it look like a giant eye. On the other side of the Lake was a crystal forest in blue, and behind that… a massive cliff.

"There's the Island of a Thousand Paths" Mercuria said, "The Scaron will wait for you there."

"Flipping Weeeh" Kid grumbled.

"For tonight, you can rest there" the Seraphim carried on. Pointing to a wall made from polished grey rocks she added: "There's the Old Camp. Rest there, and tomorrow you will face your challenge."

Exhausted and injured the three entered the camp. Ten more Seraphim were there waiting, and one came to Mercuria. "Are those the pirates who wish to challenge the Scaron?"

"They are, Alethea. But those mortals need to rest first. Can you show them to a vacant room?"

"Of course" Alethea turned to Kid and Law and said: "Follow me, mortals. I'll show you to your room."

Grumbling about called 'mortal' Kid followed Trafalgar and Alethea inside one of the grey stone buildings. There were no windows, but it was remarkable warmer and there were blue glowing crystals providing a cold blue light.

Their room was rather small, only barely large enough for two beds. They were covered with several white, really soft furs.

"Didn't the Yeti have such fur?" Law asked uncertain.

"Who cares?" his companion grumbled, "At least my arm won't freeze up here again."

Law rubbed his shoulder absent-minded before he said: "Show me your shoulder!"

"What?! Why should I do that you little fuck?"

Rolling his eyes the Surgeon flicked his wrist and mumbled: "Scan" warping Kid's fur coat away and into his hand, leaving the towering brute only with his vest. While Kid began to bitch about that, the doc had already crossed the distance and poked at the pale skin around the prosthesis' attachment piece. "Hmm…" he said thoughtfully, "Beginning frostbite…"

"Are you fucking with me?!"

"You should really cover that arm up, Eustass-ya."

"And why?!"

"Because…" Law sighed and sat down on his bed, "The metal is channelling the coldness right to your shoulder. If you don't want to lose that through frostbite you should cover your arm."

"Who are you? My mother?"

"No, but I'm a doctor" Law deadpanned. Without any visible emotion he looked at his glaring companion and continued: "Let's take care of our injuries first. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Pink stones?! Really?!"

Law rolled his eyes again while Mercuria crossed her arms and said: "They're not pink. It's magenta and purple."

Trafalgar ignored the two bickering behind him and took a look around. The earth on which they walked was in a deep magenta/purple colour. Small hills were 'grown' with blue crystal grass, blue shrubbery and blue trees. There were blue crystals everywhere, most were intact and some were broken. Some crystals floated through the air, some mushrooms made from crystal stood there and provided a bluish light.

Even the little sunlight that made it through the constant cloud cover made the crystals sparkle like polished diamonds.

'Sparkling Forest' was truly a matching name.

Only then a giant Aracin, a crystal spider, jumped from behind a few shrubs and tried to bite Law. The Surgeon of Death merely raised his eyebrow and killed the creature using a Counter Shock even before his companions could react. Then they started their way through this mystical forest.

Soon afterwards, however, did they encounter one of the more powerful beasts dwelling here. "Watch out!" Mercuria shouted, "It's a Dracolin!"

The beast screeched, dove after the small doctor and tried to bite his shoulder. Only Law reacted quickly and warped himself away. The Dracolin stopped, screeched and curled its body, staring at them.

The beast was over 10 feet long, had the head of a dragon, a scaly, serpentine body and the wings of a dragonfly. Enraged it sent out a beam of ice towards them.

"Repel!" Kid shouted and hurled a damaged crystal towards the beast. The Dracolin screeched surprised and was hit. In the same moment Law appeared, created a Room with his powers and killed the creature using his Nodachi. Normally his 'Shambles' would not be fatal, but it was possible for Law to change it into being fatal.

Looking down at the remains of the Dracolin he turned to Mercuria and asked: "I suppose this won't be the last one."

"No. Although they are rare here, they come down from the mountain sometimes" Mercuria answered. "Now come. The Lake of Dreams is nearby. Once you defeated the Scaron you may return to your crews."

"Finally!" Kid huffed, "Was about fucking time!"

The trek through the remaining Sparkling Forest took them another hour or so. By now both pirates had stopped trying to follow time. There were too many creatures all around them that constantly tried to kill them, so they had no chance to keep track of something as petty as time.

But eventually they reached the banks of the lake and stopped for a moment to marvel at the sight.

In front of them lay a crystal blue lake, flat and unmoving like a mirror. Only when wind came up the surface was slightly moved. The edges of the lake were very steep cliffs enshrouded with pink crystals. Crystals grew into the lake and there were some crystal trees floating above its surface.

Shattering the moment, rendering it to shreds, came Kid's voice. "'Lake of Dreams' my ass! What did you ladies smoke?!"

Mercuria shot Kid a deadly glare before smacking him hard over his head. That was enough to send the redheaded brute onto the floor.

"Don't hit him so hard!" Law yelled, "I need him later!"

"That's not hard!" Kid slurred as he forced himself up again, holding his throbbing head. "Killer punches harder!"

"Do not offend Mother Sophia!" Mercuria hissed.

Law sighed again and began to move towards the small crystal bridge connecting the edges of the lake with the Island of a Thousand Paths which lay directly in its center.

-0-

Remarkable enough they reached the island without any more trouble than only 'malfunctioning' crystals. Law made Kid take as much of those surprisingly magnetic crystals with them in order to fight this mysterious Scaron, ignoring the redhead's protest that those crystals were indeed pink. Kid hated pink!

The island itself was nothing extraordinary – for the Crystal Planes at least. Grey volcanic rock with a lot of small and smallest streams everywhere – at least this explained the name 'Island of a Thousand Paths'. There were large pink crystals, some big blue ones and a myriad of small crystals poking out of the ground, making it hard to walk without stepping on one. Some rock trees with crystal leaves were standing there.

But there was no sign of the Scaron beast.

Instead they met something else.

"Yuck!" Kid shouted and glared with disgust down to his feet. There sat a purple bug with massive jaws. It had the size of a cat and scrambled hurried towards him, intend on nipping his ankles. Kid stomped down on it, killing it in an instance.

While the brute tried to get rid of the goo stuck now on his boot, Law turned to Mercuria and asked: "Now what? Where's that Scaron?"

"Your friend killed one of its younglings" Mercuria retorted. "The Scaron itself will be in the center of the island. I recommend we look for it."

"Did you hear that, Eustass-ya?" Law shouted.

"Yeah! So there will be more of those little bitches?"

"I'm afraid yes."

-oo0oo-

Further away from the Lake of Dreams, in front of the coast, was a single Marine ship.

"Captain!" a Marine yelled, "There's an island!"

"I know, cadet" the captain snapped back, "But we will not set foot on that island!"

Taken back the young man stuttered, "But… but why?"

"This island is occupied by weird animals and a tribe of really militant women. Like the Kuja. And they are not under the government's control."

"…And? We can still try to capture them! For the World Government!"

The captain sighed out and took the young cadet aside. "No, no we won't. This island…" he pointed at said grey volcanic island with the snow-covered mountain, "This island is cursed or something. No matter what we sent there, we could never conquer this island. It is said that each woman that lives there can kill 500 soldiers – as a warm-up!" The young man gulped audible. "And everyone that manages to escape the women will be devoured by the beasts living there… trust me, cadet. No-one that can think straight will ever set foot on that island. And we should keep it that way."

"…Yes sir."

"Good. Now go back to your work. Those planks won't scrub themselves."

While the young man departed again and returned to his wet mop he thought: "Only women? Then why did I hear a_ man_ cursing?"

-oo0oo-

Law dared to remove his hands from his ears only slowly. Kid stood there with wide eyes, shaking on his whole body with anger while Mercuria – the stoic Mercuria – looked positively shocked at the redheaded brute.

"Eustass Kid!" Law growled, "Could you please curse less loud in future? And while you're on it… make it less colourful, too."

"I've met a lot of sailors in my life…" Mercuria added muttering, "But none, I repeat, none could curse like you did."

"Well excuuuuuuse me if I curse a little too offending" Kid snarled back. Pointing furiously at something in front of them he shouted: "But that thing there startled me!"

Said thing was a giant bug. It had a purple-shining blue carapace, eight instead of six legs, a horn on its forehead and a white and blue pattern all over its body. Standing over 15 feet at its back the bug there was truly a formidable foe.

The Scaron rested its blue glowing eyes on the small human in front of it.

"This… this is the Scaron" Mercuria said, "It will be your challenge. Defeat it to prove your worth."

The Scaron screeched out and from some eggs that lay around it hatched an army of Young Scarons. "I'll keep the younglings away. You see that you kill the old one!" the Seraphim shouted and attacked the nasty little bugs.

"'Kill' is easier said than done…" Law muttered. "Bugs do have a strong armour."

"Whatever!" Kid roared and summoned a few crystals around himself, ignoring the fact that they were pink, "If you smash it long enough it will stay dead sooner or later!" He looked back to Law and said smirking: "Don't stand in my way, Trafalgar."

Law smirked right back and said: "Trying to order me around again, Eustass-ya?"

"No, I mean it, Trafalgar" Kid snarled. "I'm a close range fighter. Getting between me and that beast would mean getting crushed as well."

Law was taken back for a moment. "So you actually care about my well-being?" He chuckled. "Really, you don't cease to surprise me, Eustass-ya."

"If you get killed, who should patch me back up when my own Doc is nowhere in sight?" Kid replied smirking. "Now stand back. The bitch's mine!"

As to answer him the giant bug screeched out again and attacked.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Mercuria whirled around again, swung her swords close over the ground and killed several Scaron younglings that ganged up on her. The cat-sized bugs screeched out pathetically when they were severed by the Seraphim's whirling blades.

There were still several more coming and Mercuria hated killing such small enemies. So she raised her hand again and summoned a pillar of light – the same attack she had hit Kid with a few days ago. The bugs were immediately destroyed by the light.

Mercuria smirked. As Seraphim she was born with tremendous magical powers. She would never need the power of a Devil Fruit since she was already more powerful than most people in this world. Indeed Mercuria was able to fight head-on even Logia user without sustaining lasting damage.

There was an old saying with the Seraphim: 'If something manages to draw your blood, it is worthy of seeing your blood.'

And Mercuria had not bled once in the past 1000 years.

With the bugs destroyed Mercuria shifted her attention back to the numerous eggs everywhere on the island. She brought her hand forwards and sent out a magical lightning bolt which sprung from one egg to another and destroyed all of them. There was nothing left but slimy residue.

Smirking to herself in confidence the tall Seraphim turned then back to where the mortal pirates were facing off with the Scaron. And she was more than surprised to see them still alive and – above all – able to hold their own against the powerful beast.

The Scaron is after all a beast that presented a formidable opponent for any Seraphim.

With these thoughts in mind she watched amazed how the two pirates – who tried to kill each other only a few days ago – combined their powers to bring the beast down.

Just like Kid promised he did the heavy combat. His bulk of a body could deal out massive damage – and that combined with his Devil Fruit enabled him to increase the damage – while he was also strong enough to shrug off a lot of damage. Law on the other hand kept himself in the background, used his small statue and agility to evade certain hard hits and attacked with his own Devil Fruit Ability. By now he had managed to rob the Scaron of half of its legs.

Law also watched Kid's back by warping him out of the danger zone when things became too hairy. Mercuria was not sure whether Kid saw that as help or as nuisance.

Kid smashed the Scaron away again, almost throwing the huge insect onto its back but did not manage to. He cursed mentally. However he soon cursed loudly when he noticed that the beast had discovered Law.

Law widened his eyes when the bug scuttled towards him. "Oh shit!" he cursed and tried to summon his 'Room', but before he managed to the creature was already upon him. Oddly enough Law's last thought was: 'Hopefully Eustass-ya can patch me up…'

In the very moment this thought crossed his mind something huge and dark barrelled in front of him. Only on the second gaze Law recognised the fiery red hair. "Kid…?"

The bug leashed out and hit the brute. Kid grunted when his back was violently smashed against a – luckily rather smooth - crystal. Nevertheless there were some sharp edges on that thing and his back screamed out in pain.

"Damnit!" he shouted, "Get your ass to move, you little fuck!"

"Right" Law called, "Can you still fight?"

"What do you take me for? I'm not fucking weak!"

Law nodded to the rising brute. "Good. I'll finish it. ROOM!"

The bug screeched and moved to attack him again, but it was already enclosed in Law's room. Trafalgar smirked, flipped his finger upwards and said: "Tact!"

The bug screeched out in surprise when it suddenly landed hard on its round back, its legs struggled in a vain attempt to get back up. But in that moment Kid jumped above it with massive crystals enshrouding both his arms. "REPEL!"

The tremendous force behind the blow smashed the insect's carapace on the belly and back and crushed it into the hard ground underneath. The giant Scaron screeched once or twice and struggled a few minutes before the movements stopped and the beast withered away.

The pirates had won. The Scaron was dead.

-0-

Kid jumped off the dead Scaron and moved slowly and gingerly over to Law. The Surgeon of Death did not look to his brutish partner; his eyes were glued on the giant dead bug.

"We have won…" he said slowly and stuttering, "We have managed to pull that…"

Kid grinned his monstrous grin. "We rock!"

Law's ears perked up and he looked smirking up to his larger partner: "You said 'We', did you notice?"

Kid scowled down to him, but before he could snap anything, Mercuria came over as well.

"I am deeply impressed" she told the men proudly, "The Scaron is truly a formidable foe each Seraphim has to face…" Before Law could ask what she meant with 'each', Mercuria carried on: "Of course, a Seraphim has to defeat it on her own… but since humans are a lot weaker than us, it's only understandable that you had to work together."

"Did she just belittle us?!" Kid roared enraged.

Law held him back and sighed: "Let it go, Kid. I think it usual for Seraphim to belittle everything around them…"

"Anyways, I congratulate you on your victory" Mercuria said smiling, "For this you have earned our respect and we will send you back to your ships…"

"I'm not going yet!" Kid snubbed her, "I'll prove to you that I will not be belittled! I'll take on this whole damn island!" Grabbing Law on the crown of his head he put the startled doctor in front of him: "And he will accompany me!"

"Oi, you brute! When did I agree into that?!"

Mercuria raised an eyebrow. "So you wish to continue then?"

"Damn straight, Miss Holy!"

Law sighed. He always feared and hated when Kid's ego was bruised. And he knew that he had not the necessary strength to 'talk' him out of that again – Killer had told him that he would simply kick his captain square into the gut whenever he did something stupid… but… Law glanced at the redhead's abs… he doubted that this beast would even feel his kicks. And Trafalgar feared that he would only break his foot on the brute's body. When he did so during their last fight, his foot hurt like a bitch for _hours_.

Fate sucked really.

Mercuria crossed her arms, her white eyes rested on the two men and she said: "If you are absolutely sure, then follow me into the Arena of the Winged Ones. There you will face a challenge only very few Seraphim face. You may fight together as well."

"Good! We'll do that!"

"Oi!" Law snapped, "Don't decide for me you brute!"

Kid grinned down at him and in the next moment Law was draped over the brute's human shoulder and carried after the Seraphim like a sack potatoes. He huffed out in annoyance and wished once again to be able to kick Eustass Kid like Killer usually did.

-oo0oo-

The way towards the Arena was long again and led them through a forest made from stone trees with crystal leaves. The temperature was notably lower than on the other side of the lake, and Law guessed it had something to do with the cold downslope winds coming from the mountain above. Here were still crystal beasts and Dracolins living, but besides the already known boars, wolves, bears and spiders there were also jumping crystal plants and – much to either's horror – walking crystal skeletons waiting amongst the crystal shrubs. And especially the skeletons were tough foes, because they did not fight like animals but with the cunning intelligence of a human.

Slowly did it dawn to them what Mercuria meant when she said, that most Seraphim preferred to go only to the Island of a Thousand Paths and did not continue further.

Nevertheless they had decided – okay, Kid had decided for them – that they would face the challenge in the Arena of the Winged Ones, and thus Mercuria brought them there.

Soon they reached the Arena. It was a circular building made from grey, smooth rocks. The only entrance was framed with blue crystals, but its inside was black as night. Law felt a little uneasy when he stared into the darkness, not noting the second Seraphim that appeared next to them.

"Mercuria!" she called out, "Want to go for another round in there?"

Mercuria laughed a beautiful, pure laughter. "No, not today, Failitia" Pointing to her two companions she said: "They defeated the Scaron and wish to continue further!"

"The Scaron? Not bad for humans" Kid scowled at that again and Law huffed out. "You two wish to face the Trial of the Winged Ones? Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Kid barked.

Law fidgeted a little with his Nodachi before he too nodded – albeit only under a death glare from Kid which told him to stay with him.

Failitia shrugged. "Okay. I suppose you can go in there together, seeing that you are only human… but be warned. The Trial is nothing for weaklings. You will have to face nine waves of enemies. Defeat them all to continue."

Law and Kid looked at each other again, nodded and stepped into the darkness.

Inside the Arena was a circular ring of crystal growing against the wall. The ground was smooth, plane rocks and a single crystal in the middle provided the only light, dipping everything into a soft blue hue.

"Are you sure about this?" Law muttered under his breath.

"I will not let myself being belittled!" Kid snarled, "Normally I would simply kill everyone that does so, but I suppose I can't go around and kill all the Seraphim – the world would turn much uglier right away."

Law chuckled. "Getting philosophical out of a sudden? Really Eustass-ya!"

"Ready or not!" Failitia called to them, "Here comes the first wave!"

An invisible door was opened and five snarling crystal-wolf Luglacins dashed into the room. They discovered their prey immediately and attacked at once.

Kid rolled his eyes and huffed: "Nothing more? You'll just see, Seraphim."

Law sighed at that show of juvenile arrogance. But then again, they had fought more of those beasts in the past, so five should not be a great hindrance.

Indeed the two pirates did not need more than two minutes to destroy all of the Luglacins.

"Very well!" Failitia shouted, "Then let's come to the next round!"

Another door opened and now seven Luglacins came running towards them.

If this was only the second round, this day would take forever!

-0-

14 Percalacins, 16 Aracins, incredible 29 Ursacins and an hour later the two pirates came back through the crystal portal. Both were pretty beat up, but otherwise okay.

"We showed 'em!" Kid shouted.

"Yeah!" Law jeered. Then both hissed out in twinge from their new wounds. Mercuria and Failitia were deeply impressed by them.

"You did excellent! Only once before have I seen mortals fight like that!" Mercuria said smiling. Locking eyes with her sister Mercuria muttered: "Perhaps… perhaps you could be able to fight the true challenge of this island…"

"True challenge?" Law asked curiously, "I thought this was it?"

"Oh no" Failitia explained. Pointing to the mountain she said: "On the top of that mountain lives the single most powerful creature we Seraphim have created and placed here" Her white eyes narrowed as she said: "Narmul the Ice Phoenix."

"Until now no Seraphim was ever able to defeat the Narmul" Mercuria added. "Not even Sophia!"

Kid's smirk grew wide, almost resembling his 'rape face' – and Law felt really, really uncomfortable. "Oh no, Eustass-ya… You will not…!"

"We'll show her!"

Law facepalmed. "We are dead."

However Mercuria remained calm. She merely raised her eyebrow again. "First you should take some rest and tend to your injuries. The Southern Outpost is not far from here, Failitia and I will accompany you there."

"What about that Narmul bitch?" Kid asked pouting.

"We will give you some time to decide on that" Failitia said, "Like we said, nobody has defeated the beast until now… but then again, we did always fight alone against it."

"As soon as we arrive in the Southern Outpost I will send word to the Harbour of the Winged. Your crews will be released again."

Law smiled at that thought. "At least one good thing. Thank you, Mercuria."

She nodded warmly. "Now let's get you to the Southern Outpost. You'll get fresh food, medical equipment, clean clothes and a warm bath there."

The pirates grinned at the thought of a nice warm bath. Looking forward to that, they all began to move towards the next Outpost.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The Southern Outpost did not differ much from all the other Seraphim outposts. For such beautiful women they had a very dreary architecture. Everything seemed to be geared towards usefulness and not beauty – very different to the extravagant way the ladies dressed.

'Dreary' was also the perfect word to describe the room in which the two Supernovae would stay for the next time. It was still early evening when they settled down, but they were too tired from their previous fights against the Scaron and the hordes of beasts inside the Arena of the Winged, so they mutually agreed on sleeping in as soon as they had bathed and treated their wounds.

Law – being the doctor – went to the bathroom first, to wash off the blood, sweat and volcanic dirt from the last days. Kid did not mind, knowing that Law would treat first himself and then his own wounds. The brute kicked off his boots, shrugged off his coat and settled down on his bed which was covered with several layers of Yeti fur, wincing slightly at his hurting back.

The redhead took a look around the room to get his mind off the throbbing pain from his rather unlucky run with the Scaron. It was just as bleary as the last room, although this one was slightly larger. The room was warm, in fact so warm that one could walk around in light clothes and without shoes without feeling the chill from outside! There were no windows, only a door. The only light was created by numerous crystals. Kid wondered how the Seraphim managed to not lose their track of time here.

Kid did lose his track of time, or perhaps he dozed off a little. Because very soon he heard Law's contented sigh. Looking up the redhead raised his nonexistent eyebrows.

"What the fuck are you wearing?"

Law shrugged and looked down on himself. Inside the bathing chamber he had found some neatly folded white clothes, one pile for him and one for Kid – judging from the size. It consisted of a simple white shirt and a pair of simple white trousers (he still retained his hat, though). It was a light, but warm material, mostly weaved from Yeti fur. "Pyjamas I reckon" Law eventually said. "Mercuria said we would get some new clothes and that her sisters would take care of our own."

Kid scrunched his nose at the thought of handing his beloved fur coat to a total stranger – no matter how hot she was! Neither did he like the colour white.

"Don't look at me like that, Eustass-ya" Law said happy, "Just get out of those terrible dirty clothes. The Seraphim will take good care of that."

The Surgeon of Death sat down on his bed cross-legged and reached into his bag, pulled out some bandages and medical potions and began to treat his wounds. Kid huffed out and moved to get up, grimacing and wincing again at his protesting back. Law looked over and said: "I'll have a look at your back later. You sound horrible!"

A terrible crunching and screeching sound made both men cringe. "And you should take a look at that arm of yours. That thing sounds worse than you do!"

"No wonder…" Kid grumbled, "I had it not exactly built for punching crystal stuff." He put his organic hand onto his mechanical shoulder and felt around for a moment before latching his fingers into some lever and pulled. With a grimace from Kid and a metallic clicking sound the joints came apart. Kid encompassed again and pulled the brutish metal prosthesis away from his body.

Law blinked at the scene and looked with big eyes at the massive retainer sleeve which was implanted deep into the redhead's body. "You can take that thing off?"

Kid stared at him with a blank look. "Of course. How else do you think I'm showering?"

"You have a point, Eustass-ya…"

Kid shrugged, put the monster of arm down on his bed and retreated into the bathing chambers.

The design inside was just as bleary as everything around him. Quickly he discovered a neatly folded pile – similar pyjamas like Law wore now – and a less neatly folded pile containing Law's original clothing. Kid did not care about folding his clothes first before doffing them onto the floor. His boots had remained behind in their room. With a contented groan he lowered himself into the warm waters of the tub. "Fuck yeah" he mumbled satisfied. "That's the stuff."

-0-

Law took a professional look at his bandages. He had replaced the old ones and put on some new ones. Even though both pirates had managed to direct most of the damage away from them there were still some wounds from lucky hits. Pouting the Surgeon of Death took a look at his right shoulder. A Percalacin had hit him there, and now it had turned into a really ugly bruise. Luckily nothing was broken, it only hurt like hell. So he pulled out some coolant gel from his bag and smeared it over the wound. It would get better in a few days he estimated.

He checked his bandages again when Kid came back. Even without his massive coat and his left arm the brute was still an intimidating appearance. His red hair hung into his face without his goggles, and he brushed it back. He wore his shirt open and the left sleeve hung useless down.

"Ah, Eustass-ya!" Law began smiling, "Had a nice bath?"

"Fuck yeah" Kid grumbled and moved to settle down to sleep.

"Could you kindly remove your shirt?" the raven-haired doctor said, halting the brute in mid-move.

Kid turned around and glared at the smaller man, asking: "Why should I do that?" Law did not answer, instead he held up a few bandages. "Oh right."

"And I would like to see your back."

At that the brute reacted unlike Law had ever expected. "NO!"

"But that hit from that bug must've dealt a massive amount of damage! I have to…"

"I SAID FUCKING NO!"

Law was taken back. Without able to say anything he stared at the larger male. Kid scowled at him with a glare that would have reduced any lesser man into a puddle before sitting down and checking on his mechanical arm.

This reaction however intrigued Law to no end. And he would have to deal with his companion's wounds anyways. Because of this he flipped his fingers and mumbled: "Scan", stealing Kid's shirt away at once.

"YOU LITTLE FUCK!" Kid roared and jumped back to his feet, clearly on the verge of murdering the smaller man. Trafalgar could now clearly see the crisscross of scars on his left side, running all the way from his face down to his hips. It was worst around the retainer sleeve where his left arm used to be. The scars most likely continued further down, but since his companion was wearing pants Law could only guess (he also had no desire to see his companion without pants). There were also some on his right side, but they were less pronounced than on his left.

Looking at the scars the smaller man asked: "Whatever happened to you?"

Kid was still glaring at him, not intend on answering anything. But those calm grey eyes boring into his crimson ones made him revisit this. Huffing out he put the replacement for his lost limb down and said: "Took someone on I probably shouldn't have."

Law sighed. "I knew that this would happen sooner or later… what happened afterwards?"

"Killed him before I passed out – Bastard did not expect that" Kid grumbled, "Killer got me back to the ship – or so I was told. I was out for a week. Should probably be happy that I didn't lose the eye, too."

Law nodded. He had thought so already. Coming back to the matter at hand the doctor said: "I still need to see your back, though."

Kid went back to glaring. "No!"

"Don't make me Counter Shock you!" the smaller man threatened. And 'lo and behold, it showed some effect. Obviously Kid was aware of the smaller doctor's destructive abilities and his back still hurt like a bitch. So he grumbled, growled somewhat like an angry tiger, grumbled some more and uttered some unintelligible curses before settling down.

Law smirked. Bruising the other's ego was definitely helping his own – although it was dangerous play. So he picked up his stuff and went over to the other.

His expert eyes wandered quickly over the redhead's back. The crisscross of scars continued on the other's rear side as well. There was a really ugly bruise on his lower back framed with some cuts. The bruise pulled up to…

Suddenly Law's eyes widened and he felt himself stiffening, not noting that some of the stuff he held tumbled from his grasp.

It took him an eternity before his brain could process what his eyes saw.

At least this explained a lot.

-oo0oo-

Far away from them Killer – unaware of what happened on the other side of the island - found himself blinking in confusion. "What shall this mean?" he heard the penguin-guy from Law's crew saying.

"You are free" one of the Seraphim guards told them.

Killer blinked as he tried to reprocess what happened just now. Their usual routine of doing nothing, glaring at the guards outside and freezing was suddenly interrupted when a Seraphim – he believed it was Niokaste - with a white eagle-like bird on her arm came to their guards. She said something to them and suddenly their prison was opened.

It was Jean Bart – the giant human from Law's crew - who said what went through Killer's mind. "So the captain beat that challenge?!"

"They did" Niokaste told them. "Mercuria sent a message hawk, stating that your captains did not only manage to defeat the Scaron but also beat the Trial of the Winged in the Arena of the Winged Ones."

The pirates looked at each other for a moment before cheering wildly. "They did it! I knew they could do that!"

Killer turned to Niokaste: "What will happen now?"

"You are free to return to your ships and may leave this island" Niokaste said, "You can also stay and look around the Harbour of the Winged. But you may not pass through the entrance gate; it is way too dangerous out there and only accessible for those wishing to face the challenges of the island."

"We'll stay, of curse!" Shachi said, "We'll wait for the captain to return!"

"And we are not leaving without captain Kid!" Wire added.

Niokaste shrugged. "Do whatever you want. You are free again."

Killer followed the stream of the pirates slowly outside. So they had indeed won… He was glad that Kid actually took his orders to heart for once. As Killer looked around the harbour camp he witnessed how the crystals enshrouding their ships were broken away through Seraphim magic, leaving the ships floating free on the waves.

They may still have nothing to do, but at least the end of their stay here was already conceivable. Now all they needed to do was to wait for their respective captains to return.

-oo0oo-

Law stared. And stared. And … stared. For what seemed an eternity. He could feel the bad vibes from his companion already, but was too absorbed in staring at the redhead's back to utter a peep.

"Fucking stop staring!" Kid eventually snarled, utterly irritated from Law's behaviour. "Patch me back up, doc, or I'll make you!"

Law remembered how to close his mouth again. Somewhat unspiritual he picked up the stuff he'd lost and kneeled down. But then his confusion got the best of him and his fingers traced the scarred and red burn on his companion's back. Kid tensed under the other's fingers, but did not say anything. He growled instead in annoyance.

Eventually Law leaned back and took a deep breath, looking a last time on the circular burn mark nestled right between Kid's huge shoulder blades. "You…"

"Yes. Now shut the fuck up and do your thing, doc!"

Sensing his companion's growing anger, Law shifted his attention back to the ugly bruise. Quickly and efficient he treated the wound and also the smaller ones around it. But his mind did not leave the burn mark.

Unsure whether he wanted to have those answers at all, Law swallowed the lump in his throat and asked carefully: "…How long?"

"A few years" was the annoyed answer, "Escaped when I was 16 or 17."

"...As what?"

"Gladiator" Law looked up and Kid chuckled humourlessly, "Was friggin' good. Never lost a single fight."

Law sighed. "At least that explains your 'Kill first, ask later' approach."

"Yes. Now get to work you little bitch!"

It also explained his other behaviours.

Silent once more the Surgeon of Death continued to treat the other's injuries. But once he had finished, he felt Kid's crimson glare boring into his sides. Timidly he looked up in the moment the other captain snarled: "If you tell anyone, I will personally see to it that you regret the day you crawled outta your momma, you little fuck!"

Law took a deep breath and got back to his feet. "Don't worry" he said, "This will never leave this room."

"Good" Kid huffed and turned onto his good shoulder. He had not bothered to re-apply his mechanical limb. Actually he never did when sleeping. It was far too uncomfortable.

Law settled down in his own bed, pulled the heavy Yeti fur blankets over him and looked a last time back to his unwilling companion. "You are really something, Eustass-ya" he thought. But as interesting and shocking his discovery was, he would not talk about this with anyone. Nobody needed to know. And quite frankly, he clung to his life.

Trafalgar Law knew that Eustass Kid did not make any empty threats.

With an odd weight in his chest Law turned away from his companion and tried to get a much needed good night's sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

****Surprise! Sorry if that is somewhat ooc, but in my head there has to be a reason for Kid to hate the Celestial Dragons!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Mercuria crossed her arms, leaned with her shoulder against the door frame and looked back to the two men in front of her. Law was lying on his bed and read a book (he had it in his bag all the time) and beside him was Kid sitting and tinkering with his mechanical arm.

"So you are absolutely sure?" she asked.

Law looked up from his book and said: "We discussed about this in the morning. Eustass-ya and I decided to at least try to take this Narmul down. It can only help us in the future."

"I'll never understand what drives you humans…" Mercuria said then, and she was genuine confused. "Always trying to be better than ever before… why are you not accepting your given boundaries?"

"I guess it's what represents us humans" Law answered smiling. "We're always driving to stretch those boundaries, to see when it is impossible to continue."

Mercuria shook her head. "Like I said, I will never understand you… but if it's what you want, I guess I can't argue you out of that."

"Damn right, lady!" Kid growled from his bed.

Sighing the Seraphim said: "Well, since you want to face the Narmul so badly, I have to ask you for what you'd need. The mountain containing the Phoenix' Nest is unforgiving. Say anything you need, and I'll get it for you."

At this both men looked up with certain curiosity. "Anything?" Kid asked with his nonexistent eyebrows raised.

"Anything."

Law locked eyes with Kid and said: "Warm clothes would be advisable, I think. And some better medical equipment."

"Some better spare parts" Kid said, looking down to his arm, "I used the best steel I could get my hands on, but it is not enough. The Scaron bitch did a number or two on my arm."

"Noted that" Law said chuckling. Looking back to Mercuria he said: "And some better weapons would be nice…" Suddenly he got an idea and said: "Or better yet: Support!"

"Support?" both Mercuria and Kid asked confused.

"Out of the corner of my eye I saw how you fought" Law said to the Seraphim, "We would appreciate it if you could drop your passive attitude and fight on our side."

Mercuria tilted her head. "You are giving me a chance to fight against the Narmul."

"Exactly! Think about it Mercuria! You'll support us and when we brought that thing down you'll have an even better rank amongst your sisters!"

"Hmm… Well, I am pretty content with my present rank… but I guess I can support you anyways. I gave my word after all."

"That's good" Kid said smirking, "One thing. I want one of my own men here."

"Namely?"

"He is by far my strongest Crew member and my most trusted one." He paused for a moment before asking: "How fast can you get Killer here?"

Mercuria lifted her head and thought for a moment. Finally she said: "One day. One and a half max."

"ONE DAY?!" both men shouted unbelievingly.

And Law stuttered: "We needed _four_ days to come here. How do you want to get him here in a _single_ day?!"

Smiling sweetly Mercuria said: "I have my ways and possibilities. I'll send message to Niokaste again, and she will accompany him here. Until then I'll look where to get the other requested items from."

With that she went outside again. Law and Kid blinked after her before turning back to each other. "One day?" Kid asked again. "How?!"

"I have no idea, Eustass-ya…"

-oo0oo-

Killer looked up from the book he was reading. Some noise from the outside had attracted his attention, and this was not the usual noise from a pirate crew. So he put his book down and went outside.

Once he came on deck he saw what everyone was making a ruckus about. Right between the two ships stood the Seraphim Niokaste.

And she had two truly giant tigers with her. They were as large as a bull – had similar muscles like one, too – and foot-long fangs. Oddly enough both beasts carried a saddle on their back.

"I am looking for a man called Killer" Niokaste said, "Which one of you is it?"

"That would be me, then" the masked man answered. "What do you want?"

"Mercuria sent another message. Your captains wish to face Narmul the Ice Phoenix, and therefore they wish for your support. You'll meet them in the Southern Outpost.

Killer raised his eyebrow. "My support?" he asked.

Niokaste nodded. "Get your stuff, mortal, and meet me in ten minutes."

Killer blinked once more before returning into his room. While he packed up his equipment into a bag, he wondered why Kid would want to have him at his side. They did manage to get through on their own until now, didn't they?

Soon afterwards he reappeared, bag slung over his shoulders and his blades secured to his belt.

"I'm ready, I guess" he said.

Niokaste said: "Good. Come here. I'll accompany you to the Southern Outpost."

Killer did as he was told and stopped once he witnessed Niokaste mounting one of the huge tigers. "You are riding that tiger?" he asked confused.

"No. _We_ are riding these Sabre-tooth Mounts" Niokaste replied, "They are faster than the fastest runner and the creatures dwelling here won't attack them. We can cover the distance to the Southern Outpost in no time!"

Unsure the masked man looked at the giant tiger. He had only once sat on a mount, and that had been a shaggy pony in the kiddie ride when he was 7. Killer had never since ridden anything, much less a tiger!

"What are you waiting for? Written instructions?" the Seraphim asked impatiently. "Just mount the tiger, it'll do the rest."

"Okay" Turning back to Wire and Heat he said: "You two have the command until we return, understood?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Minutes later two Sabre-tooth tiger mounts rushed out of the crystal archway and set off towards the Southern Outpost.

-oo0oo-

Law put his book down and looked around. Mercuria had come in only once again to put down some of the material Kid had asked for. Right now the redhead was absorbed in enhancing his artificial limb, and while he did that he seemed to forget everything around him. Trafalgar chuckled. This was a side not many persons outside his crew would ever discover on the terrible, notorious Eustass 'Captain' Kid.

Law put his book aside – he had read it before – and shifted his attention back to the brute, surprised how delicate he could actually work. Using his Devil Fruit ability he could arrange that which he could not reach with his fingers.

But Law was bored. So he got up and trudged over to Kid. It took him several tries of calling his attention before the redhead finally reacted.

"What?" he asked annoyed.

Law smiled and asked: "Can I help you with that, Eustass-ya?"

Kid looked at him as if he just had grown a second head. "Help?"

"I have very delicate and steady hands, you see" Law explained. "And I'm bored. So I figured I could help you a bit with that."

"What makes you think I need help?"

"Oh, nothing. I am pretty sure that you can work on your own. But with my help you would be faster."

Kid looked at the smiling raven-haired imp, down to his arm and than back to the imp. Huffing out he said: "Yeah, sure. Why not…"

"Really, Eustass-ya, you don't cease to surprise me."

"Whatever. Just don't fuck anything up or I'll fucking murder you!"

Law smiled. At least he had not entirely changed.

While the two were tinkering, Law began: "You know; we could form an alliance later on."

"Alliance?"

"Come, don't ask if you didn't knew what that is, Eustass-ya. I know you allied yourself with Hawkins and Scratchman Apoo!"

"…Can I replace you with Scratchman then? Seriously, the guy freaks me out with his ass-weird teeth and those freaky arms."

"Is that a proposal, Eustass-ya?"

"Asshole. You won't hear it again."

"I'm hopefully not interrupting something" Mercuria's voice came from the door. "Your crewmate has arrived, Kid."

"Ah, perfect!" Kid said and jumped up, leaving his arm on the bed. Law followed the two outside.

When he set foot outside the grey building, he shivered for a moment. "Should've put on my cloak…" he thought.

"Oi Killer!" Kid shouted. Killer turned towards them and steered his Sabre-toothed mount into their direction. "Nice kitty…" Kid added then.

"I assume this is your 'ways and possibilities', Mercuria" Law said.

"These mounts are bred by us exclusively for the usage here" Mercuria said, "They can run faster and more persevering than any other mount. And they have a kind of – how do you call that? - Haki bred into them that keeps all other creatures here at bay."

"I see. So this is why Killer could arrive here so fast." Looking back to the masked man who slipped rather gingerly off the giant feline Law added: "Fast runner and not hindered by random fighting."

"Exactly."

"I do hope you have not destroyed your arm again!" Killer said upon seeing his friend and captain with only one arm. "Because if you did, my foot will visit your guts!"

Kid rolled his eyes. "Of course I destroyed that damn thing. What do you take me for? It's inside." The three pirates turned to go back into the warmth. "Say Killer… why are you walking like that?"

"Try sitting on that damn cat for continuous hours. Fuck, I swear my ass is beyond raw."

"Not only your ass it seems… judging from your duck waddle."

Kid had exactly 5 seconds to marvel on his little joke before Killer kicked him hard into his guts, sending the equally large man flying where he crushed into a crystal tree.

Law grimaced at the sight of that. Okay, so Killer was someone that one should not piss off. Behind him he could hear two Seraphim whispering: "Is that normal for mortals?"

Deciding to ignore this remark he followed the stalking Massacre Soldier inside.

-0-

When Kid finally caught up with his companions they were standing in their room and stared disbelieving.

"Oi, what's the matter?" Kid grumbled.

"…When did they put a third bed in here?"

"Third…?"

"Look for yourself, Eustass-ya."

Indeed the Seraphim had somehow brought a third bed into the room while the inhabitants were outside. It was just as large, as comfortable and as fluffy as the other two, it only looked unused.

The only problem was, that it had been placed right between the other two beds, forming one large lying area.

"Oh fuck, no!" Kid growled, "What were those bitches thinking?"

As it turned out the beds were not able to being moved, forcing the three Supernovae to basically sleep in one bed.

After Kid was done bitching and everyone had bathed (Killer took eons because he had to wash his hair) they somehow came to terms. Kid on the left side, Killer on the right and poor Law was squeezed between the two hulking brutes.

It was fine, at least until Kid rolled over and almost squashed the smaller doctor, forcing Law to roll aside. Only then he landed on Killer's insanely long hair, and having that or his mask touched made the Massacre Soldier ballistic. Oddly enough neither Kid nor Killer seemed to react to each other's actions.

In short, it was a way too rough night for poor Law. While he curled up and tried to evade certain flailing limbs he wondered if he would ever get some decent sleep with those guys around.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Kid wasn't so sure what woke him ultimately up. Perhaps this terrible dry feeling in his mouth? Or was it the unfamiliar weight resting over his stomach? Or even the strange hard thing under his lower back? Whatever it was, Kid was confused first when he woke up. He had to blink some time before remembering where he was.

Or with whom he was here.

When his consciousness returned to him the redhead looked around. He lay sprawled out on white fluffy blankets. Killer was with him, being sprawled out like he was, one leg rested across Kid's stomach, while he somehow managed to get the other _under_ Kid - that foot must've been numb by now. It was also remarkable that Kid's mechanical arm had somehow stayed on the bed all night, even despite their constant moving around.

One question remained, however.

Where was Law?

Despite wanting to loaf for some more time, the captain of the Kid Pirates got up, grabbed Killer's foot and threw it off him before pushing himself into a sitting position. This movement woke his masked first mate.

"Ugh…" he groaned, "Damn… why's my foot numb?"

"You can ask that the doc" Kid grunted, rubbing his eyes. "Given the fact that we find him."

-0-

As it turned out they did not need to look very hard. During this rather rough night they had somehow kicked the young doctor out of the bed. Law had managed to hold on some pelts and curled up on the foot of the bed. He was obviously exhausted, so Killer talked Kid out of waking him up. Instead the two pirates began to prepare for the upcoming day.

When Law finally got up – his spine and bones cracked and popped with every move – the other two were already finished. Kid and Killer were just tearing some Yeti furs apart and wrapped them artistically around Kid's artificial limb to keep it from becoming too cold.

"Mornin…" Law slurred and got up.

"Slept well, princess?" Kid asked smirking. Law merely scowled at him.

"No, thanks to you two. Really, Eustass-ya! Normal people settle down and lie still when they sleep! You almost crushed me – four times!"

"Exactly that is the reason why I refuse to share a bed with Kid." Killer said chuckling. "He's kicking."

"So are you, Killer" Kid growled right back. "And you're not only kicking when you sleep!"

"Anyways…" Law asked yawning, "What now?"

"You get ready of course. Then we are going to look for Mercuria and set off towards this NaAAAARGH!" Whipping his head to Killer Kid shouted: "DAMN IT KILLER! WARN ME NEXT TIME YOU'RE REATTACHING MY ARM!" More silent he muttered: "Connecting the nerves is always a bitch…"

Law shook his head, picked up his clothes and went to dress himself while Killer tried to calm his captain. But when the doctor came out again he stopped and almost dropped his jaw to the ground.

Mercuria had arrived again with some winter proof clothing made from Yeti fur. But she wore only sparse golden armour with silver trims. Her appearance seemed to illuminate the rather dark room.

"I brought the desired clothing" she said, "We will leave in an hour. Prepare yourself, pirates."

With that said, she turned around and went out again. The three men stared after her.

"Nice piece of ass…"

"Oh yeah."

-oo0oo-

"What is a Narmul?" The Seraphim accompanying the group suddenly stiffed. Only slowly did she dare to look back to the young human.

"What is a Narmul, Bobelia?" Shachi repeated.

She took a deep breath. "The Narmul…" she stopped and huffed before continuing: "…is the ultimate challenge on this island. Created by Sophia through the usage of all of the Seraphim's powers the Narmul is undefeated until now. No Seraphim, not even Mother Sophia, could defeat it."

The pirates blanched. "Not even… but you kicked all our asses in under five minutes!"

Penguin shook with fear when he said: "Shall that mean… that captain is facing a … _suicide_ mission?"

Bobelia shrugged. "No Seraphim had tried to fight with someone else against the Narmul, though. That is all I can say to that."

This did not sooth the pirate's worries though. With deep worry they glanced back to the giant mountain towering above the island. On the top of that mountain was the nest of the Phoenix.

"Narmul the Phoenix… no, Narmul the _Ice_ Phoenix…" Penguin muttered, "When it is like Whitebeard's Second in Command Marco the Phoenix… captain is in deep shit!"

-oo0oo-

The group of four had meanwhile crossed the remaining Crystal Plane. Now they stopped in front of a cave entrance. The three men wore warm white clothes complete with ankle-long coats, fur-filled boots and gloves and warm scarves. Kid had additionally a pelt layer wrapped around his left arm to prevent frostbite and to keep it functioning.

"This is the portal" Mercuria told them. "It is the only way to reach the Labyrinth. And on its end the Narmul will be waiting."

"What are we waiting for?" Kid huffed out, "I'm smelting in those clothes. Let's put them to real use!"

Mercuria nodded and they entered the cave.

The only light came from blue glowing crystals which dipped the whole cavern in a ghastly blue light. A cool draft hit their faces when they entered and they needed a while to adjust to the strange environment. Mercuria pressed forwards and led them through the seemingly endless cave.

"Woah! What's with those trees?" Killer asked at the sight of levitating crystalline trees.

"You should rather concentrate on those bridges, Killer-ya" Law muttered. In front of them was an endless ravine, but there were floating crystals which formed a bridge.

"…This island is without doubt the craziest island I have seen until now…" Kid muttered.

"Don't get distracted!" Mercuria shouted and drew her swords. "This cave is overrun by Skelacins!"

"I hate Skelacins!"

-oo0oo-

The icy chill that wrapped its cold fingers around their bodies as soon as they exited the portal hit them like a sledgehammer.

"Ho-OLY FUCK!" Kid shouted and shielded his eyes from the piercing needle-like snowflakes.

They had reached the mountain, the Labyrinth. There were still the familiar crystal/rock trees everywhere, even more than down in the Crystal Plane, but everything was covered with three foot thick snow and ice. The wind was whipping, and the snowflakes it sent against the four adventurers were piercing like needles. Even despite their warm Yeti-furred clothes they immediately felt the coldness creeping into their bodies.

Kid pulled his goggles over his eyes and Law pulled his hat down. Only Mercuria had not a single problem with the whipping winds and the coldness.

"Let's continue!" Mercuria shouted over the howling wind. "We have to reach the Crystal Cottages. We can't face the Narmul in this weather!"

Painfully slow the trek set off. Kid ploughed through the hip-deep snow to prepare a path for Killer and Law. The smaller Man was walking between the two brutes, obviously fighting with the coldness. His small body was not suited for this kind of weather.

"I thought you were from the North Blue?" Killer shouted to Law.

"I am! But even in the worst winter it was never like this!" the doctor shouted trembling back.

"Like I said!" Mercuria answered. She was walking on the snow, unfazed by the icy powder despite wearing high heels. "It is a challenge only few face. And the weather is a main reason for that!"

"We have to sit this storm out!" Law yelled.

As fast as they could manage they began to move towards the Crystal Cottages. On their way there they ran into Saxenors and a few Dracolins, but what annoyed them most were the Lithos – strange floating, _aggressive_ crystals. They were like the malfunctioning crystals down in the valley, only those could actually move around.

Much to Kid's displeasure there were no malfunctioning crystals up here that he could use as replacement for metal weapons. Because of this he was forced to fight without his Devil Fruit's ability. With an enraged roar he smashed an attacking Saxenor into pieces, and Law imagined seeing the gladiator Kid had claimed to have been.

But then they were attacked by several Lithos and Saxenors. Before they could get into position, however, Mercuria jumped into action. She was not hindered by thick clothing since she wore almost nothing but a golden armour, and thus she could move without hindrance. Her blades whirled through the howling wind with deadly precision, shattering the attacking stone monsters with ease. Not one move was unnecessary, and still her fight resembled a dance.

The monsters never stood a chance. Within minutes Mercuria defeated all of them. Turning back to the obviously baffled pirates she asked: "Well then. Shall we continue?"

"At least I now know how she could defeat me that easily…" Kid muttered.

"Wow" was all Law said.

And Killer wondered: "Perhaps we should take her into our crew… oh, no. She would immediately make the rest of us appear like amateurs."

It took them hours to reach a bridge made entirely from ice, and crossing it was an adventure on its own since the ice was slippery and the wind was still assaulting them from all sides. Law was caught by an unlucky squall and was almost hurled off the bridge, but then he was grabbed by Kid. The larger male threw the younger on his back, growling: "Don't let go, idiot."

Law was too surprised to say anything and when he was thrown off he could only stare at the redhead.

"Kid's accepted you" Killer told him, "Be grateful for that."

"There!" Mercuria eventually said, pointing to a spot in front of them: "The Crystal Cottages are nearby. Only a mile more!"

This put a spring into their step – if that was possible – and they quickly crossed this distance, killing and disabling some more monsters on the way. Another Seraphim came towards them. Only she was wearing a heavy, less revealing armour. In fact only her chin was visible. "Quick!" she shouted, "Come this way!"

"Thank you, Endijian!"

Endijian and Mercuria disabled several monsters that came their way out of a sudden while the three men hurried towards the Crystal Cottages. Indeed this camp differed from all other camps since it was not build from rectangular, simple grey stone buildings but rather crystals formed into a cone-shape. It reminded them on igloos or perhaps yurts. The entrance was closed with crystal doors, but as they approached they slid apart to allow them to enter. Not thinking twice Kid shoved first Law in before he and Killer followed. Mercuria and Endijian came in afterwards and the doors slid closed again, converting the crystal building into a fortress against the biting cold and whipping winds.

-0-

Inside the crystal fortress the temperatures were far more enjoyable. Other than the 'normal' Seraphim buildings this was circular and rather small on the inside, just large enough so the three males could lie down.

"This is crazy!" Endijian said, "You went through that blizzard?"

"There was no other choice" Mercuria said, "When we started down in the Crystal Planes, the weather was not as worse. We were surprised by the blizzard and could not return to the Portal."

"I'm surprised that your mortal companions managed it through here, that's all" Endijian muttered. Looking over the three males she then asked: "Do you need anything?"

When they signalled that no, they would not need anything Endijian and Mercuria went out and into another crystal cottage, saying something about informing another Seraphim named Mara.

"As soon as the blizzards ebbs away, we'll continue. You should rest until then" Mercuria told them before she disappeared into the cold.

"Seems as if we are stuck here until the weather clears up" Killer said.

"Can as well do as Mercuria said and rest a little" Law grumbled as Kid rubbed his aching shoulder absent-mindedly. The port hurt sometimes, especially when it was cold.

"When this here is over, I'll invite you two to hot cocoa…" the doctor muttered and sneezed.

"Cocoa? Oh please!"

"Okay, hard liquor then."

Kid chuckled humourlessly: "An invitation from a Dog of the Government? No thanks. I rather eat glass!"

"Are you still mad about that?"

"Why did you choose to join the ranks of the Shichibukai anyways?" Killer asked. "I know that the 'Surgeon of Death' is not a guy who would fight just because someone tells him to."

Law chuckled. "My reason? I wish I would believe myself when I say that I did it to be closer to Hancock…" He chuckled again, "But I merely wanted my ass out of the Marine's crosshair."

"Self-preservation then, eh?"

"Yup. You got it Killer."

"Anyways, what are we going to do about that Ice Phoenix thing?"

"We we're fucking killing it until it stays dead!" Kid threw in, "We'll pluck its feathers and break it's neck like the chicken it is!"

Killer sighed. "I doubt it is a chicken, Kid. If the Seraphim can not defeat it, it's surely not a normal animal."

"What is normal here anyways?" Law muttered and snuggled up in his fur clothes. In truth he was too tired to care. Turning to Kid he said: "Thank you."

Looking down the redhead growled: "What for?"

"The 'saving-my-life' stuff you know" Law said smiling which confused the redheaded brute even more. "I thought you didn't like me, Eustass-ya, and yet you save my life on a regular basis!"

Kid grumbled and countered: "I still don't fucking like you, Trafalgar. But if someone kills you, it will be me and nobody and nothing else… WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING YOU LITTLE BITCH?!"

"I don't like you either, Eustass-ya…" Law grumbled from where he was leaning against said redhead, "But you are warm in winter. So shut up and rest."

Killer chuckled at that. At least not everything had changed. Kid was still trying to kill Law and Law was doing everything he did only to annoy Kid. Saying a: "Calm down Kid and go to sleep" he crossed his arms, leaned back and dozed off.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The weather had cleared up and since the wind had ebbed off – it was nothing more than a gentle breeze now – it was not as cold as before. Thanks to that and Mercuria's incredible battle power they managed to cross the mountains fairly quick. Indeed it was now almost laughable easy.

Almost, though. The enemies living in this frigid environment were far beyond the skill of any normal enemy. They were able to land several hits on the pirates and even Mercuria had been hit once or twice by the hordes of monsters. Still they managed to fight their way clear. Remarkable enough Law and Kid fought side on side while Killer sided with Mercuria most of the time.

Now it was almost noon and the pirates finally began to understand what the Gamekeeper Mara meant when she talked about the raw power of the Narmul this morning.

There were dead, frozen bodies everywhere. Most were still in the position of their death, standing around like macabre ice sculptures. Here was no wind, no snow. Only unworldly, chilling coldness. Four giant statues of ice depicting the powerful Narmul stood in four corners of an old ruin. Many more statues of Narmul's unlucky victims stood around.

And in the center of it all stood the Ice Phoenix itself.

Narmul.

"That ain't a fucking Phoenix…" Kid eventually shouted, "THAT'S A FUCKING DRAGON!"

Well, Phoenix-Dragon-Hybrid would be the more fitting description. Narmul had four limbs ending in bird's talons, giant feathery wings, feathers instead of scales on its body and an almost beak-like snout. Its long, feather-covered serpentine tail whipped through the air in anticipation and its glowing blue eyes darted from each of the four to the next one. The head alone was almost as long as Law was. Narmul's plumage was of a deep icy blue and white scales covered its lower side.

The beast did not move from its spot, instead it watched the small persons in front of it with … amusement?

"Okay, big an' mighty leader… what shall we do now?" Law hissed.

"Attacking the bitch?"

Suddenly the dragon-phoenix began to laugh. **"Hahahahaha! More ants that wish to kill me?"**

"RAAAAH! IT CAN TALK!"

"**You are not the first ones that tried to fight me. I have killed them all!"** The beast shifted its attention to Mercuria and a beastly grin appeared on its lips (if Dragons could have such emotion at all). **"Well well. A Seraphim. You should know that even the likes of you have no chance against me! I am invincible!"**

Immediately the giant beast sent out a giant orb of blue fire at the four. They yelped and dove out of the way, but when the orb hit the ground it created a carpet of blue flames, effectively forcing them to create more distance.

These flames were not burning, but freezing.

Cold steam rose from Narmul's maws as it looked around for the small humans and the Seraphim. **"Run as much as you want! You will not escape me!"**

-oo0oo-

Kid slammed violently against the halfway collapsed wall. He heard his bones crack and bit his tongue in order to muffle a pained scream; only a dull grunt escaped his throat.

That last attack was worse than any before. Or perhaps he was only getting exhausted.

Dazed and disoriented the redheaded pirate tried to get up again. There was no time to fall unconscious since they all were facing with a terrible opponent.

And falling unconscious would be the last thing he'd do.

Suddenly he felt a cold draft on his skin.

"Shit…" Kid thought, "I can't die here. I have to become the King of Pirates first!"

But it was too late. Narmul blasted another tongue of icy fire after the fallen pirate captain. The icy blue flames engulfed the brute figure and Narmul smirked to itself… however… as soon as the flames disappeared there was no-one there! No corpse and no ice statue!

Narmul growled in annoyance and looked around, ignoring the fact that Killer and Mercuria had already begun to attack it.

"Everything okay, Eustass-ya?" Law asked worried when he appeared in Kid's field of vision. He had used his Devil Fruit ability to save Kid's life and brought him behind a wall.

"Trafalgar?"

"I warped you away before the Narmul could kill you" the younger man sighed. "You could thank me once in a while."

"Later" Kid groaned and pushed himself into a sitting position. "Can you still fight?"

"Yeah, I was only hit once or twice. Although…" Law winced a bit, "Although that already broke a few ribs."

Kid nodded gingerly. "Good. Stay here and keep eye on us three. We'll try to bring the bitch down and you get us out when things get hairy, understood?"

Law nodded.

"Good" Kid grunted and got back to his feet, wincing when he did so. "I'll rely on you, Trafalgar!" Then he jumped over the wall and attacked again.

Law looked up from behind the wall. His comrades were in trouble it seemed, but Mercuria was the one with less problems. She was a much better fighter than the two pirates, skilled in magic and could heal herself when injured. Kid and Killer on the other hand became slower, less agile and weaker over the course of time.

It was only a matter of time until those two would drop out.

Law blinked and focused on the blue Phoenix-Dragon. Was it only a flare? No! There was indeed a blue-glowing aura around the beast, enshrouding it from head to its talons.

Seemingly that was some sort of shield, since no attack any of the three used on the dragon actually reached the beast but was absorbed on the shield.

But where was the shield's power source?

Law hoped desperately that it was not the dragon itself.

Suddenly he heard a pained grunt and noticed the shield flickering for a wink of time. Confused he looked around and noticed Killer sitting somewhat deranged at the foot of one of the Phoenix statues. There was a crack and a blood smear where he hit the thing.

"Could it be…" Law wondered. "Could those statues be the source of Narmul's shield?"

He whirled around to the statue closest to him. Flipping his fingers he mumbled: "Room!"

There was only one way to find out.

-0-

Narmul roared again and leashed out with a talon, hitting Kid and hurling him right into Mercuria. Both warriors went down with a grunt.

Much to Kid's surprise however, Mercuria managed to roll his heavy body off her and got back to her feet within minutes while he got up only slowly and wincing.

"Are all of you Seraphim so strong?" he asked, gritting his teeth.

"Of course. Now get up or the Narmul will devour us both!"

Suddenly there was a loud crashing sound, as if glass splintered. The shield around the Narmul flickered like mad and turned less dense out of a sudden.

"**What?!"** the dragon roared.

"Ah-HA!" Law shouted, attracting the other's attention where he stood next to a destroyed Phoenix statue. "The statues! We have to destroy them first!"

"**You will never succeed mortals!" **Narmul roared and attacked Law, but the Surgeon was faster and warped himself away.

Kid smirked, albeit slightly pained. "Goody!"

Law appeared next to the two and said: "I'll take care of the statues. Can you keep the dragon off my ass until I'm done?"

"We'll do" Mercuria answered. "Follow my lead, Eustass Kid!"

"Oi! Don't order me…"

"DOWN!"

An icy blast from the Narmul zoomed over them where their heads had been only moments ago. Mercuria looked over to Kid with a glare that said: "Well?!"

And Kid muttered: "Okay. I'll let myself being ordered around for once…"

Despite himself and the situation Law had to grin. But he caught himself quickly as Kid, Mercuria and Killer jumped at the massive dragon again. He knew he would have to hurry up since the other pirates were already getting tired, and if they dropped out, Mercuria would be in trouble as well.

So Law drew his Nodachi and ran over to the next statue. Only three more to go…

-0-

Killer's body reacted only on instinct. Jump, twist and land. He was on Narmul's back, the dragon's head shot around in time the masked man brought his blades down. But damn! This strange blue glow seemed to reflect his attack while throwing sparks.

Whatever this was, it made it impossible to land any kind of hit on the blue feathered dragon.

In the next moment, however, Killer sensed something closing in on him and tensed his muscles just in time to cushion the attack.

The blow from the dragon's tail was still extremely hard. The Massacre Soldier's body was hurled through the air and he smashed through several ice statues before slamming against a wall. His breath – or whatever was left from the massive tail strike from before – left his lungs in a rush, and Killer found it unfamiliar tough to get a new breath into his body.

Or to get up.

Luckily he was motivated quickly when he saw the blurry shape of Narmul turning towards him through the holes of his mask. He scrambled to his feet and ran almost blindly away just before another blast of icy fire hit the ground where he had been only moments ago.

Without doubt this thing was easily as bad as the worst enemies they had faced until now. Perhaps even worse.

Through the suddenly painfully loud rush of blood he heard the sharp splintering sound of breaking ice and Narmul's enraged roar. There were only two statues left.

-0-

Mercuria growled darkly as the Narmul summoned a rain of rocks at her. She easily avoided them by raising a powerful magical shield. Then she pulled her swords out of the ground and attacked again, smashing into the giant dragon with all her strength. The dragon's shield had lost half of its power, but it was still working well. Not for very long, though. Trafalgar Law took care of the other two Phoenix Statues.

All she and the other two men had to do right now was to prevent the Narmul from attacking Law.

And this she did with incredible persistence. Hurling a magical lightning bolt she attracted the dragon's attention once again, even though she could not inflict any kind of damage on the beast. Narmul lashed out at her and hit Mercuria, sending her stumbling against a wall. But the Seraphim healed herself and attacked again.

Despite having no way out – even though not every flight meant shame for a Seraphim – Mercuria had to grin. Normally such feelings would be unknown to her sisters, but right now she felt somewhat ambitious. When the Narmul was dead, her name would go right into the history of the Seraphim as the only one who defeated the terrible beast. And she would go up in rank in any case.

Her grin only widened once she heard more splintering ice. Only one statue was left.

-0-

Eustass Kid ran, ducked and smashed his whole weight into Narmul. The shield was wavering by now. Soon his brutal attacks would finally show some real effect.

The Ice Phoenix lashed out at him, but Kid evaded. For someone with his bulk he was surprisingly agile. He dodged all four of Narmul's limbs but missed his head and was headbutted into some more statues. Luckily the dragon was too distracted by the Seraphim and his own already beaten up first mate to pursue him, so Kid could take a little more time to get up.

His mechanical arm, however, was only moving slowly and awkward now. And even despite having it wrapped up with Yeti fur Kid swore he felt the biting coldness numbing his shoulder. What did Law say? The steel of his arm channelled the coldness directly into his flesh and caused frostbite?

Kid growled in annoyance as he got up again, ignoring the fact that he could not move his mechanical arm like he used to. No matter. When things got worse he could still pick up some of the scattered old weapons that lay everywhere around. He had been through a harsh training before he gained his Devil Fruit Abilities and thus he could use about any kind of weapon.

Because of that he did not worry about the serviceability of his artificial limb.

But the threat of losing his remaining shoulder to frostbite still hovered above him and darkened his mind.

His ears picked up the satisfying shattering of the last of the Phoenix Statues. Narmul roared out in pure anger, roaring: **"Argh! You will pay for this, Mortals!"**

Kid, however, smirked. Frostbite or not, he would simply beat this over-sized poultry lizard real quickly and call it a day.

Spurred by these thoughts he attacked the Ice Phoenix again. He was sure that this fight was almost over.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Law cursed rather creatively and warped himself away just before his Room was destroyed again. No matter what he tried, the Narmul was always prepared and stopped the attempts in 'Shambling' it.

Trafalgar threw a quick glance towards his comrades. Mercuria was still most active when fighting while Kid and Killer seemed to continue only through sheer willpower. Not that he was any better. Narmul on the other hand had almost no damage until now, because having its shield destroyed made the beast only more aggressive and somehow more mobile. The Ice Phoenix even took periodical flight.

It was almost like fighting that Kuma-alike cyborg a few years ago.

Only worse.

He suddenly stopped and jumped aside just in time before a massive claw could crush him, and came face to face with the terrible phoenix-dragon. Law widened his eyes when Narmul blasted another stream of icy fire directly against the Surgeon of Death. He had only milliseconds to react but still somehow managed to pull his head out of the danger zone. In the same moment Narmul lashed out again, smashing its talons into Law's body. The doctor hit the ground and stayed dazed down, but Killer and Kid jumped at the dragon to prevent the beast from continuing its attack on the smaller man.

Law coughed wet and stared at the splatter of blood he spit onto the cold ground. It kept dripping from the corner of his mouth, too.

"Shit…" Law muttered under his breath. His experience as doctor told him that he had sustained heavy inner damage. This combined with the unworldly chilling coldness radiating from the Narmul made his insides churn really painful.

Each breath was like trying to breathe concrete by now. Or better yet, ice. Law knew he could not last very long now. Painfully he turned his head and tried to direct his attention away from his battered body. He could see the massive towering beast named Narmul in the distance, but did not see the red or blonde which were Kid and Killer. He did, however, recognise Mercuria's golden armour. The Seraphim was seemingly getting frustrated by now, but seemed otherwise fine. Law could see the bolts of magical lightning the Seraphim unleashed against her foe.

He felt the tremendous force behind those attacks through his whole smashed body, and still the Narmul did not seem to take any kind of damage.

But why was that?

Law could have snorted if that didn't hurt like hell. He was always thinking clearest just before passing out. Why was he realising this little, really frustrating fact now? And what was behind that?

Suddenly he was snapped out of his thoughts when his battered body was painfully lifted and thrown over the shoulders of someone. It took him a few moments to realise that it was Kid around whose neck he was draped right now like a sheep.

Although it was right now more like a dead fox.

"Eustass-ya?" he asked slurring.

"Fucking idiot" Kid snarled as he ran back into hiding. Once he was there he dropped Law carefully down and Trafalgar could see Killer leaning heavily against a wall. His right leg was bloody, most likely smashed. Kid himself did not look too good himself and his left arm looked as if it had been hit by the icy flames.

"You almost got yourself killed, idiot" Kid snarled. "You could say 'Thank you' once in a while!"

Law grimaced as he pulled himself up into a half-sitting position. "I think…urgh… I think I figured something out."

The other two pirates looked at him curiously. In that moment however, Mercuria came around the corner. "Here you are!" she shouted, "Can you still fight?"

"Not with that leg" Killer said, his voice sounded raspy and raw.

"My insides are pretty much mush" Law muttered, breathing heavily. "I can't even get up without collapsing."

Mercuria scrunched her brows. Without saying anything she summoned her magic to heal the three mortals. Law's lungs screamed out in relief and he took a deep breath. While Kid helped Killer back to his feet Law examined himself. The pain was less now, and his inner injuries were better, but he was not entirely healed. Only enough to function.

"Thank you" he heard Killer say.

Mercuria nodded. Then she looked around the corner and muttered: "See that you get back to your feet, children. Narmul is looking for us. It's only a matter of time until he finds this place."

The Seraphim was already about to jump a new attack when Law held her back: "Your magic does not work, doesn't it?"

"True" Mercuria admitted without even batting an eye. "I can not use my celestial magic on Narmul."

"Maybe because Narmul… has been created from your celestial Seraphim magic if I remember correctly."

The only reaction was Mercuria saying matter-of-factly: "Oh, so _that's_ why I can't use my magic on it."

"YOU DID NOT KNOW?!"

"If I can't use magic on Narmul, I'd simply have to use it on me." In the next moment she summoned forth her magic, enshrouding her body like a halo. "Battle Stance."

Kid almost jumped back when he realised that Mercuria's eyes were suddenly – quite literally – burning with astral flames. She picked up her swords and shouted: "Narmul! Get ready for the next round!"

And then she smashed the thick rock wall away as if it was cheap plywood. With a heavenly battle cry she jumped all the way over to the surprised Narmul and brought her swords down. Narmul saw her coming and evaded the attack which split the floor where it stood only moments ago.

Law smirked to himself. "She could've done this before!" Kid complained.

"Wrong pride, I reckon." Killer replied, sighing. Throwing a glare over to his red haired captain he sneered: "Sounds familiar, eh, Kid?"

"Shaddap!" Kid growled. Ignoring his first mate – the bastard was surely smirking underneath his mask – he jumped over the remains of the wall to attack Narmul. There was no way in hell he'd allow a girl to take all the glory.

Law looked up to the masked man and asked: "Wrong Pride?"

"What do you think how Kid lost his arm?" Killer answered. "The idiot overestimated himself – _again_!"

The Surgeon of Death blinked at that revelation. "So… Kid is an actual idiot?"

"The biggest I have ever met" Killer grumbled and drew his blades. Then he paused and added: "Until the Straw Hat, of course." Jumping over the rubble he shouted: "Don't get into any more trouble, Kid!"

"SHADDAP!"

Law chuckled to himself. "Oh well. Who would've guessed…" But no matter. There was still a dragon to slay.

-oo0oo-

Kid cursed, jumped, rolled and cursed again when he hit his left shoulder. The two or three ice blasts he'd caught from Narmul with it and the whole chilling coldness around had done a number or two on his mechanical arm and the shoulder it was connected to. Funny enough it was almost numb, but whenever he hit it the pain was agonizing.

"Perhaps that shitty doctor was right," Kid thought darkly, "and I got frostbite" He grimaced and added: "The fucking Mother of all Frostbites!"

To make matters worse the thing had frozen up to the point where it could be only moved through Kid's magnetic powers. It was only a nuisance right now and Kid wondered for the umpteenth time whether he should simply take it off and continue without the artificial limb. But then again, he hated being left with only one usable arm.

So Kid swallowed the lump in his throat and turned back to the massive Ice Phoenix-Dragon.

Thanks to Mercuria's Battle Stance – this increased her strength to at least five times of her previous strength - and their own albeit less effective actions they had managed to injure Narmul. But it was a beast – a highly intelligent, powerful and cunning one; that much was granted – and beasts become even more dangerous when injured.

The Narmul was no exception and the pirates had to learn that the hard way. As much as Kid hated to admit it, but without Trafalgar Law he and his first mate would had been killed – or at least severely injured – by Narmul several times already.

Because of that Kid threw an ensuring look over to where he saw Law last time. He still did not like that guy, he found him queer and somewhat scary with his fucking ass-calmness, but sadly Law was his life insurance right now.

But then again, if he was only his own, Kid would give a flying shit about that fact.

Sadly Law was also Killer's life insurance, and no matter how Kid looked at it, but Killer _was_ his most trusted friend, even if he was a bastard sometimes. And losing him was worse than losing a limb.

While Kid was thinking about that, Mercuria flipped over the Narmul's head and dug her swords deep into the beasts' back. Narmul roared out in pain and rolled over like an over-sized dog to shake the pesky Seraphim off. It worked, but as soon as it got back to its feet, Mercuria was already there and attacked the dragon with a series of pelting strikes. Narmul retaliated by blasting a massive tongue of icy fire after the gold-clad woman. Mercuria retreated into safety.

In the same moment, however, the dragon lashed out with all its power and caught the Seraphim off-guard. Mercuria gasped in surprise when she was hit, the dragon's claws broke through her armour and hurled her with tremendous force into a still standing wall. It collapsed atop the Seraphim and buried her under tons of rubble.

Narmul snorted to itself in satisfaction. With the Seraphim dealt with, the three pirates would be no threat to its life.

Snarling the Ice Phoenix turned around to look for its next prey.

And quickly its blue glowing eyes fell on the smallest of the three mortals. Hungrily it licked its razor-sharp teeth and moved to attack the man, intend on having a light snack after all this fighting.

-0-

Law felt his heart stopping for moments when he heard the crash and witnessed the golden shine of Mercuria's armour disappear under dirty grey rubble and white snow. Without thinking the Surgeon of Death was already running towards the impact site, even though the doctor in him argued that she was most likely dead already. But something in him told him that Mercuria was still alive.

So he quickened his pace, hoping to come past the dragon without it noticing.

But a roar told him that he did not manage to. Law whirled around in time to see the giant maws of Narmul closing in quickly – too fast for him to warp himself away. He gasped and brought his arms up in a feeble attempt to protect himself. Law knew that this was most probably not going to end well for him.

"IDIOT!" someone roared and Law felt something hard slamming into him. But the feared impact of dragon teeth in flesh failed to appear. Instead there was a pained grunt from the hard thing between him and the Ice Phoenix.

Only slowly did he dare to open his eyes. And what he saw surprised and startled him.

"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Kid roared at him over his shoulder. He had caught the dragon's attack with his over-frozen metal arm, holding the maws open with the lower arm of his artificial limb. But the dragon was proving too much and the mechanical appendage, it was cracking and screaming under the pressure and Law could see some parts twisting and breaking.

Then his eyes fell on Kid's left shoulder and he saw red. Blood seeped through his white Yeti fur clothes. The flesh around the retainer sleeve must've been torn open from the impact and the tugging of the dragon.

"DAMN IT, TRAFALGAR!" Kid shouted, "GET AWAY YOU BASTARD! DO YOU THINK I'M DOING THIS FOR FUN?!"

That snapped Law back to reality. He looked back to the huge dragon that was intend on tearing off Kid's arm – and part of his shoulder while on it. Kid grunted in pain. Obviously there was no emergency latch on his arm which led to the metallic arm tearing directly at the retainer sleeve. And with it on his shoulder.

"MOVE!" Kid shouted again.

But Law did not run away. "I'll help you, Eustass-ya!" he shouted. As fast as he could he ran around the confused brute and right towards the dragon. Narmul saw him coming and tried to crush the nimble man, but Law evaded and jumped at the beasts' chest.

Putting both his palms onto the beast's chest he activated his Devil Fruit Abilities and shouted: "COUNTER SHOCK!"

A powerful shock sprang forth from his hands and raced through the dragon's heart. Narmul clenched its jaws in shock, crushing the mechanical arm at once before rearing up and roaring out in pain. Blood splattered from its maws now.

In the next moment something white and yellow came jumping from somewhere. Killer. He had his wicked blades ready and brought them across. Narmul jerked up when the blades cut through his throat and gallons of blood shot from the wound. His head, however, stayed attached to his neck since Killer did not manage to cut through the bones.

Only now it was too deranged from pain and its immediate death that the Ice Phoenix unleashed the most powerful blast of ice until now, ignoring the fact that a part of it streamed through the gaping gash in its neck. Law and Killer yelled out and jumped away. For a dieing dragon this thing was surprisingly persistent.

They had to kill it or it would kill everyone in its rampage.

"REPEL!"

Something shot through the air and hit Narmul right there where Killer had hit it before. The object tore through the last ligaments and bones, severing the dragon's head clear off its body. The now headless body jumped backwards and collapsed with jerking movements while the dragon's head fell down next to the frozen statue of a Seraphim.

Panting Kid held his bleeding shoulder. He had somehow managed to unlock the damaged limb and used it as projectile against the dragon. Sneering he watched the Ice Phoenix' body twitching and thrashing some moments more before all signals died down and the huge carcass stopped moving. Ice seeped out from the stump of Narmul's neck and froze the whole body over as Law and Killer stepped up next to Kid.

"…We… we have won…" Law said disbelievingly. A happy smile came to his lips as he shouted: "WE HAVE WON!"

"You have WHAT?!" came a shocked scream from behind them. The three turned around to see Mercuria fighting herself out of the rubble. There were a few silvery stains on her immaculate skin, but she was otherwise fine.

In utter disbelieve and shock she stalked over to them and looked at the over frozen carcass of Narmul. "…You… you have… defeated the Narmul?!"

"FUCKING YEAH!" Kid shouted. But then he hissed out in twinge and clutched his still bleeding shoulder.

Mercuria – she was at the loss of words for the first time in the one and a half millennia she lived – opened and closed her mouth several times to say something. But as she did not manage to say anything praising, she settled for the first thing that came to her mind. "Wow" was all that came over her lips.

"We won" Killer said, still disbelieving. "We just wrecked an ass-powerful thing even the Seraphim could not wreck."

"Yeah, I know" Kid said smirking, "We are just too good."

"…And injured" Law added wincing. Turning to Mercuria he said: "Can you do something about that?"

"What? Oh, yeah, right. Wait a moment…"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The blizzard had picked up again. The Seraphim Mara and Endijian stood in front of the Crystal Cottages and awaited eagerly the return of their sister and her three mortal companions.

Endijian looked into the grey sky where white needle-sharp flakes came down. One could not see the horizon. "It's been almost a full day now" she stated. Looking back to her sister Mara Endijian asked: "What do you think? Will they survive Narmul? Or will they remain there forever?"

Mara sighed. "Honestly? I do not know. We have to trust the Creator that he keeps them…" Suddenly her glowing eyes picked something up. Pointing towards the cliff she said: "Look, Endijian! There are some figures moving!"

"They are too tall for Saxenors" her sister admitted, "Could they…?"

The Seraphim looked at each other and began to sprint towards the four apparitional figures.

They closed the distance quickly, only noting now how close the others actually were, but the blizzard made it impossible to determine the true distance. Not to mention that the light footsteps the Seraphim left had already disappeared under snow.

Indeed it was their missing sister and her companions. "Mercuria!" Mara called out. Mercuria looked up and waved at them with one hand.

"Mara! Endijian!" she called, "This blizzard's getting worse! We need to retreat into the Crystal Cottages!"

"The rooms are already prepared…" Suddenly both Seraphim stopped and stared at the huge head Mercuria carried over her shoulder. "The… the head of Narmul?!"

"You really managed to defeat the beast?!"

"Hey Ladies!" Kid shouted over the roaring of the blizzard. "We killed the thing!"

"But to be fair, Mercuria did most of the damage" Law replied smirking.

"Nevertheless, we ultimately killed it!"

"Stop quarrelling!" Killer yelled, "Let's get into the cottages before we turn into icicles!"

Nobody objected. The Seraphim were stunned by the dragon's head and the others were too tired to care. So everyone retreated into their respective crystal dome.

Only the roaring of the storm was audible now. Even the bellowing of the beasts had faded, and soon there were no hints of the fight left. Everything was being covered by two feet of freshly fallen snow.

-oo0oo-

"Have you already thought about my offer?" Law asked. Kid turned his head lazily to the raven-haired imp sitting besides him and checking the implanted retainer sleeve. Even though Mercuria had healed them fully, Law still insisted in making sure that none of them would retain permanent injuries. Killer looked up from surveying his leg.

"What offer?" Kid grunted eventually.

"The one of forming an alliance" Law said. "I mean, come on. You want to defeat Big Mom, and so do I. You went into an alliance with Hawkins and Scratchman and I allied myself with Mugiwara-ya" He paused before continuing: "Five Pirate crews should be enough to bring down a Yonko."

Kid grunted something unintelligible, but Killer said: "I think it's a good idea. You and Mugiwara are powerful. Forming an alliance can only be to our advantage."

"Whatever" Kid huffed out, "Just stay out of my way when I claim the One Piece."

"Oh, is that a yes, Eustass-ya?"

Kid only glared at him and shooed the Surgeon of Death away.

Law was still smirking when he said: "You should have your own doc take a look at that shoulder of yours. I suspect he was the one that implanted the retainer sleeve and he can surely examine that closer… for now I'd prescribe some rest."

Kid glared at him and replied sarcastically: "Finally some real advice, doc."

"Heat won't be happy with having to repair your shoulder again" Killer muttered.

"Heat?" Law asked, "Isn't he your fire-breathing zombie?"

"Yeah, and he's our doc."

Law blinked at the masked man. "Wow. And I thought the Straw Hats had a weird doctor… but a fire-breathing zombie tops everything."

Kid and Killer laughed at that. But eventually all three settled down to rest. It was a damn long day, and even if they had been healed, they were still exhausted as hell. Not caring about the raging blizzard outside the pirates soon went to sleep, too exhausted to care about anything.

-oo0oo-

It was long past noon when the four victorious warriors exited the Portal linking the icy Labyrinth to the less icy but still chilly Crystal Plane.

"The Southern Camp is nearby" Mercuria informed them and shifted the head of Narmul on her shoulder again. "Mother Sophia will await you there."

Law looked over his shoulder, muttering: "Wonder why the beasts did not attack us?"

"It's because we rock!" Kid answered grinning.

"Actually it's because of Narmul's head" Mercuria replied, "The beasts living here fear it, and even its head keeps all other beasts at bay."

"Ah, I see."

They remained silent for the remaining way. A few hours later they discovered the grey walls of the Southern Outpost. Quickly they also discovered several of the bull-sized Sabre tooth mounts of the Seraphim. They had different fur markings and colours, such as black, red or white. But one of the beasts caught their eyes. It was huge and resembled more a lion than a tiger and it seemed to be a living gold statue rather than an actual living animal.

Intrigued Law drew nearer and the golden lion huffed at him. It had sapphire eyes and silver markings, as well as a blue and golden saddle on its back.

"Beautiful beast…" Law whispered.

"It's the mount of our great ancestor" a soft voice told him and Law whirled around to see the Seraphim leader Sophia standing behind him. "Now the beast is my mount until she returns to us."

Sophia then turned her attention back to the pirates. "You did well, children. You defeated the powerful Narmul and for this you earned our respect – a privilege we do not grant many."

"Weeeh" Kid growled dryly. "Respect! As if we would…" Killer elbowed his captain to shut him up and Kid obeyed moping.

Sophia ignored him and continued: "We shall accompany you back to your ships and let you leave our island safely. Moreover you and your allies shall be welcome here whenever they land."

Mercuria put down the head of the Ice Phoenix and added: "Mother Sophia agreed to ally us with you" At that the three pirates looked up positively interested. "Whenever you need our assistance, we shall be there to help you out."

Law grinned at that. "Well, that is really something! Eustass-ya! Killer-ya! Heard that?"

"I'm not deaf!" Kid retorted smirking.

"An alliance with you is really beneficial. I heard that you could defeat entire armies – so some little Marines should be no problem!" Killer added.

Law sighed. "I'm afraid my Shichibukai rank will be nullified, though…"

"Whatever!" Kid barked and slapped Law's shoulder hard enough that the slimmer man almost fell down. "You are definitely more congenial to us when you are no dog of the government!"

At that Law smirked. "So you say you like me, Eustass-ya?"

"Don't get any ideas" Kid snorted, "Only as an ally. I still hate your guts."

"Whatever."

"Prepare yourselves, children" Sophia spoke again, "We will depart in an hour."

"…Will we ride the Sabretooths again?" Killer asked carefully.

"Of course."

The Massacre Soldier groaned. "Great. My poor ass."

-oo0oo-

It was three days after the great defeat over the Narmul when the three pirates finally reached the Harbour of the Winged – the very place their little adventure had started at. Law felt relieved at the sight of the ornamental beacons. But he also felt somewhat downfallen at the thought of leaving the red-headed brute again. Oh, he still could not call the other more than an ally, but when one travels for almost two weeks with the other and constantly has to entrust each other with their lives people tend to get somewhat close. Not to mention that Law now knew the other's greatest secret and was assigned to keep this a secret. No, Law shook his head, he could not call the other captain his enemy anymore. Rival perhaps, but not enemy.

His smile returned to his face, however, at the sight of his crewmembers waiting eagerly for his return. Law stopped his mount and slipped off the white sabre-toothed tiger, wincing for a moment at standing on his own legs again.

"Captain!" they shouted and Bepo dragged Law into a bear hug.

Law laughed and said: "It's okay, I'm back." Looking up to the white bear he added: "Let's get off this island and continue on our way. Jean? Did the Log Pose set?"

"Yeah. And the ladies were nice enough to supply us with some food. We can set sail, captain."

"Finally back to the sea" Kid grunted and slipped off his red-striped black tiger. Killer followed him quickly. "Oi Trafalgar!"

"Yes, Eustass-ya?"

"We may be allies now, but stand in my way to the One Piece and I will destroy you."

Law grinned. "I'm glad that this little adventure did not change you entirely, Eustass-ya."

Kid snorted and climbed aboard his ship.

"Wait!" Mercuria called up. Holding up the Narmul's skull she said: "Do not forget your trophy!"

Law jabbed a thumb at Kid. "Let him have it. It fits better to his style anyways."

Wire and Heat took the massive skull and brought it on board. Soon all anchors were lifted and the sails unrolled, allowing the constant chilly wind to be caught and drive the ships forward.

"Farewell!" Mercuria called over to them. "May the Creator protect you!"

The crisp wind and the currents were strong and drove both ships quickly away from the barren island. Kid stood with his arm over his broad chest on the bow of his ship and glared at the horizon. A voice cutting over the howling wind and splashing waves caught his attention and he turned to the other ship.

"Hey Eustass-ya!" Law called, "Didn't you want to murder me several times now?"

"I'll postpone that for now" Kid answered smirking. "Like I said, get into my way and I will definitely kill you."

"Nice to hear!" Law said chuckling. "By the way… I heard that you once tore off a rear admiral's arm and beat him to death with it… is there something on that story?"

Kid laughed at that. "Hah! What a pack of lies!" He looked down to Law with a certain amusement and said: "It was his leg, not his arm!"


End file.
